Ghosts
by Purpwithapen
Summary: They broke up. He had to try to get over her. Could Sam really move on from Jules? He was going to try and the beautiful Mikaela was willing to help him try. Could their new romance survive secrets, old ghosts and danger?
1. Chapter 1

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AN: this is after Jules and Sam break up and before Lew dies. Sorry JAM fans! :)

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She turned to look at him. Damn he's so sexy, she thought. Those expressive blue eyes, short blonde hair. He said he spends two hours in the gym every day, I'll bet he has a real nice six pack. I hope I get to see it. She smiled at the last thought and looked out the windshield. She pushed her hair behind her ear. Oh please let them like me, she thought nervously.

Sam looked at the beautiful girl in the passenger seat. He watched her smile, then push her hair behind her ear. "You nervous?"

She looked at him, smiled and bit her lip. "That obvious?"

He smiled and gave her a knowing look. He put a hand on her knee. "A little. Don't worry, they're going to love you."

"Are you sure?" She flipped the visor down and rechecked her appearance. She had her long, straight red hair down, but she had an elastic around her wrist in case she needed it. She had gone really light on her makeup. She knew this was a group of very active people so they'd probably be running around at some point. If they did she didn't want her makeup running everywhere. She put a hand up and started to run her fingers through her hair. A strong, warm hand gripped her arm.

"Yes." He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. "You look beautiful." He put their hands on the console, his on hers.

She bit her lip again. There was only one person she was going to meet that made her really nervous. The ex. She wondered how they were even able to still work together after breaking up like they did. She didn't know a lot of details, but she knew they had dated secretly and Jules had broken it off when the pressure of the secrecy had become too much. Oh please let her like me and not see me as a threat, she begged the cosmos.

"Mik?" Sam frowned. She was really worrying her lip.

She looked at him. She loved his nickname for her. She'd always gone by her full name, Mikaela since other attempts to shorten it had resulted in horrible nicknames like Mickey Mouse or Kale. Who wanted to be called a lettuce? "Yes?" She looked at him quizzically.

"What's wrong?"

She blew out a breath. She didn't really want him to think she was this insecure, but she answered with the truth. "What if she hates me?"

Sam nodded. He knew which she Mikaela was referring to. "She'll be fine. And if she's not then I'll talk to her. I know it may be a little awkward, but Jules wants me to be happy." He smiled at her and patted her hand.

He was a little nervous about that too, but he'd talked to Jules about bringing a date to their annual picnic. She said was fine with it, but her eyes had said something different. He hadn't pressed her. He didn't want to hurt her and never would intentionally, but he had to try to get over her. It hurt him too much not to try.

Sam pulled into a parking spot in front of the big park. They both climbed out and his heart flipped when he saw her toss her long red hair, the sun giving it a multitude of fiery hues. Damn she's hot, he thought. He walked around the front of the car and put out his hand. She smiled and slid her hand in his.

"Hey guys." Spike ran up to them. "Nice to see you again Mikaela." He smiled at her.

"Hi Spike. How are you?" Mikaela smiled at him.

"I'm good thanks. You?" Spike eyed her. She looks nervous, he thought.

"Good." Mikaela smiled. They chit chatted on their way to the picnic tables where Shelly and Sophie were putting out paper plates and napkins. They stopped at the table and Mikaela smiled at the two women who eyed her.

"Mikaela, this is Shelly Wordsworth, Wordy's wife and Sophie Lane, Ed's wife." Sam introduced them as Ed, Clark, Wordy and Lew moved from where they were standing talking to join them.

"Hi. Nice to meet you. I'm Mikaela Greene." She shook each of their hands.

"It's nice to meet you." Shelly and Sophie said together then laughed.

Sam pointed to Ed and said, "this Ed Lane, team leader of Team One." He pointed to each of the remaining people. "This is Wordy, Lew, and Ed and Sophie's son Clark." He pointed to the three girls playing tag ten feet away. "Those are Shelly and Wordy's girls. The tallest is Allie, she's seven, then Holly with the pink crown is five and the littlest is Lily, she's three."

She shook each of their hands and smiled at the girls who heard their names and came running up to her. When she got to Clark he looked up at her, "you're tall."

Ed said, "Clark" and gave him a look.

"It's ok." She smiled at Ed then turned it to Clark. "That's true. I am." She bent down next to his ear, looked at the girls and said, "I think my dad was secretly a giant."

The girls giggled which caused Clark to laugh and was quickly joined by the others.

Jules pulled up in her black Jeep and stopped in a parking spot in front of the group at the picnic tables. Crap, she thought. She's freaking gorgeous. Tall, redhead, athletic. Damn, why couldn't she be ugly? She did a few breaths of sniper breathing and hopped out of the Jeep. She went to the back, put the cooler on the ground, grabbed the handle and started to walk towards the group.

She'd been impressed that Sam had talked to her about him bringing a date to the picnic. He was always so thoughtful, a good friend. That's all he had to be. She loved him, but they couldn't be together and be on the same team. She couldn't stand to lose either, but at least she could still have him as a friend. She knew it was hard for him, so she was going to do her best and make the best of the situation.

Wordy walked up to her. "Hey, you need a hand."

Jules looked up at him. She had been struggling to try to get the stupid cooler up over the curb without tipping it over. "If you want to grab the buns from the back of the Jeep that'd be great."

He looked at her. He could see she was trying to mask her feelings. He didn't want to get in the middle of her and Sam but he knew seeing him with someone else would be hard so he said, "ok. You know where I am if you want to talk." He went to the back of the Jeep and grabbed the bags of hot dog and hamburger buns.

Jules watched him go to the back of the Jeep. Damn, she thought, guess I wasn't masking well enough. She was glad that he had offered his ear even if she didn't really want or need it. She was fine. She's a big girl, she can handle this. She picked up the cooler, got it over the curb and put it back down. She grabbed the handle and pulled it to the picnic table and group of people.

"Hey Jules." Lew smiled at her.

"Hey guys." She looked at each of them. Her eyes fell on Sam, he was looking at her with concern. Jules looked next to him and into the green eyes of the redhead. Is that fear, she thought. Better squash it right now. She stuck out her hand. "Hi. I'm Jules Callaghan." She smiled genuinely.

"Hi. Mikaela Greene." My voice sounds shaky, Mikaela thought. Show no fear. She gripped Jules hand tightly and pumped it once. "Nice to meet you."

"You too." Jules kept the smile on her face while a surge of jealousy coursed through her. Stop it, she thought. You let him go. He isn't yours anymore. God that sucks.

"So?" Wordy held up the nerf football. "Anyone up for some touch football?" Everyone but Sophie and Shelly agreed. They said they and the girls would be the cheerleaders. They waited until Greg arrived a few minutes later, made introductions and then gathered in the big open area to choose teams.


	2. Chapter 2

Sam and Ed stood in front of the group. Before they started picking people, they'd had a short, whispered discussion.

Ed started. "Clark. You will be the floater since we have an odd number of people." Clark ran forward excited and stood next to his dad.

"I think he means just odd people." Spike said out of the side of his mouth and the group laughed.

Ed looked at Sam. "Previous losers go first." He swept his hand from Sam to the waiting group.

"Ooh." Mikaela looked at them.

"Hey. You guys cheated." Spike said seriously, then winked at Clark. "That Clark sneak was illegal!"

"Whiner." Wordy said and slapped the back of Spike's shoulder around Mikaela's back.

Mikaela smiled at the exchange but looked at Wordy in question.

Wordy tilted his body and said, "we were all tied, Clark hiked the ball to Ed, ran past him, grabbed the ball and took off for the end zone. I was trying to block Sam but he triple head faked me and got by me. He was about to pull Clark's flag when Ed ran in, picked him up and carried him into the end zone. Best play of the game."

"Yeah for you. Cheaters." Spike said out of the side of his mouth.

"They're just mad we got by them." Jules added with a smirk.

"ANYway," Sam said to get their attention, "I pick… Lew." Lew ran up and high fived Him.

"Ok, Jules."

"Spike."

"Wordy."

Mikaela saw it was just her and Greg left. Oh man, I hate being last.

Ed and Sam looked at each other and spoke at the same time. "Mikaela." "Boss."

The two walked forward, but Mikaela was stunned that it was Ed that had said her name, not Sam. AND, she's on the same team as Jules. Interesting, she thought. She looked at Sam as she high fived Wordy, Lew and Jules. She pointed at him and then the ground. "You're going down."

"Ooh." Ed looked from Mikaela to Sam. "I like her."

Sam laughed. He knew that it might miff Mikaela a little that he didn't automatically choose her, but he liked Ed's idea to have she and Jules on the team. He wondered though why he insisted they be on his team. He was glad this wasn't tackle football or he could be in trouble.

They played for hours and as it got closer to twilight they agreed on one more play and they call it quits. Ed's team had the ball and it was their last chance to try to break the tie. They gathered in a huddle and Ed said. "Ok Mikaela, here's your chance. They've had Sam guarding you every play, so this time, you and Jules switch sides. Clark, hike it to me, same last play as last time, except when you get in the open, Mikaela is going to get open too and you throw it to her. Mikaela, all you gotta do is get past Spike, catch it and run like the wind."

Mikaela and Clark both nodded.

"Ready?" He looked at them and they nodded. "Break." They all got in position.

Mikaela got in her new position and smiled when Sam looked confused. Ed had already said started to hike the ball so he couldn't switch places. She looked at Spike as Ed said "hike!", licked her lips and winked at him. Spike was surprised enough that she got past him, caught the ball and ran for it. She glanced back and saw that Sam was on her heels reaching for her flag. She twisted away and poured on the speed. She reached the end zone before he could catch her, turned around and spiked the ball. She did her best imitation of the Icky Shuffle and smiled at him.

Sam looked at her in amazement. How did she do that? He grabbed her around the waist, picked her up and turned her upside down so her face was near his mid-back.

Mikaela let out a small squeal and laughed, kicking her feet lightly. Well, he definitely had a really nice ass, she thought. She kicked her legs, put her hands on his waist, twisted her legs and did a round off off of his shoulder. At least it was supposed to be.

Sam was surprised when she kicked her feet and started to leave his shoulder that he clutched at her, trying to keep her from falling on her head. He caught her foot as it went past his ear, but he got her pant leg. He held on and tried to twist to catch her upper body but she had already twisted away from him. He ended up turning all the way around and letting go of her pant leg but it was enough to knock her off balance so when she landed she went right back to her butt, her hands out to catch her. She landed with an 'oof'.

Mikaela looked up from the ground at Sam. Whoa, what the hell was that? It probably looked like some fucked up Barnum and Bailey stunt. She held his concerned blue eyes and started laughing while the others came rushing over. They had been celebrating, but when they saw what happened they stood in shock.

Sam rushed to her. "Oh. Are you ok?" He knelt down next to her. "What the hell was that?" He asked scared.

"I was trying to dismount." Mikaela laughed.

Spike burst out laughing. His mind had drifted to the gutter.

"You were what?" Ed asked furrowing his brows.

Spike couldn't stop laughing. He looked at Lew and that was all it took for Lew to start. That got everyone giggling.

Sam looked at her, concern and a little anger showed in his eyes. "Are you hurt?" He asked softly.

"I'm sorry." Mikaela could see he was a little irritated so she stifled her laughter as best she could. She couldn't keep it from her voice when she said, "I'll warn you next time."

He sighed and stood. Obviously she was ok. Damn that had scared him.

The group started to dissipate. They could see that Mikaela was ok and that Sam was irritated with her. Greg tapped their shoulders and tipped his head towards the table. "Let's get the barbecue going."

Mikaela sat back and looked at him work his jaw. "Sam." She stood using her right hand to help herself and pulled her breath in sharply. Damn, she thought. That was stupid.

Sam turned when he heard her hiss in pain. She was holding her right wrist. He went to her and took it from her gently moving it. She only tried to pull away when he moved it down. "I don't think it's broken, but we should go get it checked out."

"I'm sorry. That was stupid." She put her arms around him and squeezed with her left hand only.

Sam put his arms around her and put his chin on her neck. "It's ok." He squeezed and then pulled back from her. "Are you in a lot of pain?"

"No. It only hurts when I move it. I don't think it's broken either. It can wait." She smiled at him.

"Are you sure?" He frowned at her.

"Yeah. I've broken this wrist once already. I know what that feels like. It's just a sprain." She nodded.

They'd only been seeing each other for a few weeks, but he had already started to be protective and worry about her. He looked at her in the fading light and thought, damn she's beautiful. He felt his blood rush and he put a hand on her cheek. He stepped forward and put this lips gently on hers.

Mikaela closed her eyes and listened to the rapid beating of her heart. When he pulled back and looked in her eyes, she thought, damn.

"Had an urge." He gave her a lopsided grin, his hand still on her face.

"I didn't mind." She said softly.

Sam slid his hand down her arm and took her left hand. "Hungry?"

Mikaela hid a sly grin and said, "very."

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this may be the only update for a few days. We are doing a real moviefest over the next 4 days so I won't have much time to write. Happy New Year all!

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	3. Chapter 3

Sam and Mikaela returned to the picnic tables hand in hand.

"You ok Mikaela?" Spike asked as he put ketchup and mustard on a cheeseburger. He put the top on the burger and looked around the table for a napkin. He'd just made a mega burger and knew it would be messy. Sophie saw him looking and handed him five napkins. He smiled at her.

"Yes thanks. I may have sprained my wrist a little, but it's fine." Mikaela sat at the end of the table with Sam next to her.

"Does it hurt?" Greg asked as he grabbed some chips from a bag.

"No not really." Mikaela shrugged and grabbed a hot dog bun.

After everyone had a chance to eat, they all settled in to just hang out.

"So Mikaela, what do you do for work?" Jules asked.

"I have a couple jobs actually." Mikaela looked at Jules. "I work for KRP Inc as a secretary part time and I own I Am Yoga. I run a few classes, but it hasn't really taken off yet so I do the secretary thing to help with bills."

"Oh." Jules nodded and smiled. "It's a lot of work to run your own business."

"Yeah. I stay pretty busy between the two. Up at 5am for my first class of the day at 6am. Followed by two more classes. Get changed, go work for five hours. Come home, change, three more classes, and take care of stuff that has to be done for the business. I'm usually in bed by like midnight if I'm lucky." Mikaela explained.

"Wow." Jules' eyebrows went up. It was getting hard to dislike this girl. Anyone that showed that much dedication to their work was cool to her.

"Do what you gotta do, you know?" Mikaela smiled and shrugged. "Who made the potato salad? It's so good." She pointed to it with her index finger.

"I did." Sophie smiled. "I'm glad you liked it."

"Did I taste a little garlic in there?"

"Yes." Sophie gave her a surprised look and wondered if she put too much in.

"I like it. Gives it a subtle boost."

Subtle. Ok good, it wasn't too much, Sophie thought. "It was something my mom always did."

"That's nice." Mikaela smiled. "My mom taught me little tricks like that too. Next time we have a gathering I'll have to make something. She was such a great cook."

"Oh she's passed?" Sophie's face fell. She understood the loss completely.

"Yes, a couple years ago. Yours too?"

"No, but they're elderly and live in assisted living now so she doesn't cook as much." Sophie explained.

"Ah." Mikaela said. She wasn't sure what else to say. Sam put his hand on hers under the table.

"So I have to ask." Spike looked at her with curiosity. "Where in the world did that flip thingy off Sam's shoulder come from?"

"I started taking gymnastics from the time I was three. I was trying to do a roundoff," Mikaela gave Sam a look, "but it went a little sideways."

"It was a pretty impressive attempt." Spike nodded and smiled. Gymnastics, nice.

"Thanks." Mikaela smiled back.

They cleaned up the table and got a small fire going in the fire pit. Shelly, Sophie and the kids all had to bail early once things were cleaned up due to bedtimes, but everyone else hung around late into the evening.

On the ride to Mikaela's house, Sam and Mikaela talked about the day. Sam was very happy that the team seemed to be accepting of Mikaela. There were many pleasant conversations and lots of questions. Sam looked at Mikaela and smiled. She had handled it perfectly. She avoided a few questions, but she had some great stories. That's what we all are, he thought. A collection of stories. Some are good, some bad, others too horrible to share.

Mikaela felt him looking at her and turned to him. She smiled and put her hand on his on the shifter. "They seem like a great group of people. A little protective, but good."

Sam smiled. Yeah they were a little wary of her first and Ed had basically asked her what her intentions were. Sam could've killed him for that. It's not like they're planning marriage for Christ's sake. He had kicked Ed under the table for that one. "Yeah, we're all really tight so we're protective of each other. Are you sure you don't want to get your wrist checked?"

"Yes it's fine. Doesn't even hurt now. It's understandable. You've been through alot together." Mikaela nodded. "And do almost every day." She smiled. "You're heroes."

"I don't know about that." Sam looked out the side window. "We just do our jobs."

"And save lives every day." Mikaela said. "I'm proud to even know you."

"Thanks." Sam looked at her warmly. Sam pulled to a stop outside her apartment building, turned off the engine, walked around the car and opened the door for her.

Mikaela smiled as she got out of the car. She should be used to that by now, but it still surprised her. "Thanks." She tucked her hair behind her ear and walked with him to the door. She looked up at her window, the soft glow of the light over the stove visible. "Um, so I'll talk to you tomorrow?" She fiddled with the keys in her hand.

She wanted to invite him up, but she didn't want him to see her apartment.

It wasn't dirty or trashy, but she treated it like her sanctuary. Not even her little brother had been to her apartment. She had a few friends, but none had seen her apartment yet either.

Sam looked at her. She looked nervous. Did she want him to go up with her? He wasn't so sure he was ready for that yet. It'd been over two months since Jules broke it off, he thought. Two months, 14 hours and 22 minutes. Stop it. It's over, time to move on. "Yeah definitely." He moved closer, looking deep into her eyes. He saw the desire there, but there was nervousness and, was that fear? He put a hand on her cheek and his other arm around her waist.

Mikaela closed her eyes when he put a hand on her cheek and felt his lips touch hers. His kisses were always sweet and tender. She put her hand on his neck and pressed herself against him. Oh lord I wish I could invite him up, she thought hungrily as she opened her mouth a little. He slid his tongue into her mouth and probed slightly. When he finally pulled back she was breathless.

Sam stepped back from her, looking at her intently. His eyes were saying, invite me up. He waited 30 seconds. When she didn't say anything, just stared at him with desire boiling in her eyes, he said, "I'll uh, talk to you tomorrow. Night. " He turned and started down the steps. Cold shower, he thought. Definitely need a cold shower.

Mikaela stepped back and got her key ready. "Thanks for bringing me today. It was fun.'"

"You're welcome." He smiled and continued down the steps.

She shut her eyes and cursed herself. "Stupid." She whispered.

Sam was almost to the bottom of the steps when he heard her whisper. He couldn't quite hear it so he turned. "What?"

Mikaela took a sharp breath and turned around. "What what?"

"I thought I heard you say something." He raised an eyebrow.

"No." She shook her head.

"Ok. Night then." Sam smiled and walked to the car, got in and left.

Mikaela got the door open, went inside and up to her apartment. She undid the three locks on her door and pushed open the door. That was another reason she didn't bring anyone up, they'd think she was crazy for having so many locks. They wouldn't understand life had made her cautious. She redid all the locks and turned around.

She flicked on the light and looked down the hall. She put her keys on the table by the door, walked few steps down the hall and took a right into the kitchen. Not here. Where did she leave it? She bent and looked through the gap between the cabinets and countertop to the living room. On the coffee table, of course. She picked up her water bottle, walked diagonally across the hall to the bathroom.

Luckily it wasn't too late for her to take her nighttime meds. She opened the medicine cabinet and grabbed the first bottle., Toprol. She put that in her hand and held tight while she grabbed the other one, Mirtazapine. She took them both, put the bottles away and closed the medicine cabinet. She walked out of the bathroom and to the room next to it.

She closed the bedroom door and locked it. She sat down on her furry rug, got her legs in position, closed her eyes and willed herself to relax. She focused on calming thoughts, letting the world slip away around her. In this room she felt safe, no one could get her here.

Meeting a boyfriend's friends was always hard. They wanted to know so much about you. She told them a few stories and had avoided the uncomfortable ones easily. It was easy to deflect them, but she knew she had to work extra hard with this group. They're all trained to read people. If they knew some things about her, they may not be so eager for she and Sam to be together. She shut these thoughts out and just concentrated on nothingness.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: this does contain sexual content. You are able to skip this chapter and move onto the next without losing anything from the story. I do not own FP or any of it's characters. I do own my OC. Comments welcome!**

Sam looked at the clock and wondered for the tenth time if it was too early to call. It was 0900, he was already showered and shaved, ready for the day. They were going on 2nd shift rotation for this week starting tomorrow so he was looking forward to the extra bit of free time.

He grabbed his phone. He knew she liked to sleep in on the weekends. He chuckled. She called it her 'catch up time' since she slept so little during the week. 0900 was definitely sleeping in for him. Most days he was up and out of the rack at 0400 and showered and ready to face the day by 0730. He dialed her number.

Mikaela jumped awake by the sound of the phone ringing. She ripped off her sleep mask and shirt tied around her head to keep her mouth closed and grabbed the phone. Sam. She rubbed her eyes and pushed the talk button. "Mello?""Yeah. No stress here." Sam smiled. He felt bad, she was sleeping.

Mikaela laughed and rolled to her side, hugging her pillow with her other hand. "Hello you."

"Hello." Sam raised an eyebrow. "Sorry to wake you."

She rolled over and looked at the clock. 9am, that's like mid-day for him she thought. "No, I was totally awake." She rubbed her nose and sniffed. "Have been for HOURS." She rolled her eyes.

"Uh huh." He said teasingly. Sam sighed and sat back against the back of the couch. "How'd you sleep?"

Mikaela tried to stifle a yawn, but it didn't work. "Oh man. Like a rock." She got up and went to her door. She put her hand on the lock and twisted, hearing the familiar and comforting click.

Sam heard a click, but he thought it was her opening the door, until he heard another click and a creak indicating the door opening. Was that a lock on her bedroom door? No, couldn't be. "So, what're you up to today?"

Mikaela smiled and said, "give me a minute." She walked into the bathroom, put the phone, muted, on the sink and unmuted after she washed her hands. "Ok. Plans. None actually. I was just going to hang, probably do laundry or clean the house." She walked into the living room and looked at the dirty carpet and clothes slung over the back of the couch.

"Do you want a hand?" Sam smiled.

"Um. What? You want to come help me clean my house?" She asked incredulously. "Oh my god. I think you'd probably faint if you came here. It's not a dump, but definitely not military standards." She looked into the kitchen with the dishes piled in the sink. He laughed a hearty, sexy laugh. Oh I wish I could, she thought.

"And hit my head."

"Yeah then I would get tasered by your friends and, oops it got stuck on, how did that happen?" She heard Sam giggling and continued, "then hauled off to jail with the mother of all 80's hairdos to a cell where Big Bertha thinks I'm the 80's chick for her and makes me her bitch for life."

Sam couldn't stop laughing. Oh man she's so funny, he thought. "I hate to say it, but that may actually all be close to the truth." He made himself stop laughing and his voice serious. "No really, I had this girlfriend once…well I haven't heard from her since, well, uh.."

Mikaela froze. "Wait, what?"

"Kidding, I'm kidding!" Sam burst into laughter.

Mikaela laughed nervously, although she wasn't. Even though it'd only been a few weeks, she already knew Sam and the team were straight laced and would not do anything they were suggesting. She waited in silence, hearing him change from laughter to uncomfortable.

"Um, Mik? You know I'm kidding right?" Sam sat up from the couch and became even more nervous as the silence ensued. Did she hang up?

Finally, Mikaela broke the silence. "Well, um…DUH!" She laughed.

Sam breathed a silent breath of relief. He was actually a little worried for a second, but they joked like this a lot. Mikaela has such an awesome sense of humor, he thought. She and Spike got along so well.

"What do you have planned for today?" Mikaela smiled and went to the sink, put the stopper in the bottom and started the water. She squeezed some dish soap in the water and stepped away so there wasn't too much background noise.

"Anything that involves being with you." Sam said, smiling.

She felt her heart flip. "Aww you're so sweet. Do you want to meet for brunch? That'll give me time to get some things done around here. At say 11?"

"That sounds good. Do you want me to pick you up? I know a great place not far from your place that has the best Belgian waffles." Sam asked.

"Sure. Sounds like a plan." Mikaela smiled. She walked back to the sink and turned the water off.

"Ok. I'll see you then."

"Ok. Bye."

"Bye." Sam hung up and sat back on the couch. Now what am I going to do for two hours, he thought. He looked to the table next to the couch. He'd bought a few books on current military strategy at the bookstore with Mik earlier in the week. It was hard to find time during the week to see each other, but they made it work. It'd be even harder for the coming week with him working until 2200.

Mikaela did the dishes as fast as she could and moved on to the living room. She picked up everything, and vacuumed. She looked at the clock and swore, 10:22. She was notoriously slow at showering and dressing. She knew that less than 40 minutes would be pushing it. She undressed and walked into the bathroom, closing the door. She flipped on her music and got in the shower.

She finished in record time, got dried off and ran to the bedroom. Unfortunately, in her rush, she put her foot in just the wrong spot on the rug in her room and it slid under her foot. She went down hard on her butt, but only hurt her pride. She thanked her mother for giving her the same padded ass and got up.

After looking through her closet, she finally decided on her dark blue a line skirt with a dark green and blue patterned shirt. She did her makeup and gasped when she saw she had five minutes to get downstairs. It was almost ten off and he was always early. She ran out of the apartment, taking the time to lock all three locks and jumped in the elevator. She got to the first floor in time to see Sam almost to the top of the first floor stairs.

"Sam!" Mikaela called.

He had just reached the landing when he heard her. He looked up the stairwell, confused.

"Down here." Mikaela smiled when he turned to look at her.

"Hey." Sam turned and started back down the stairs. "I was just coming up." He looked at her as he descended. Wow, she looks so beautiful, he thought. Like a fiery goddess.

She watched him come down the stairs and held onto the bannister. Good god, could he be more handsome, she thought. He got to the bottom and stood in front of her, his eyes speaking volumes. Don't look at me like that, she thought. Not unless… She let her thoughts trail off as he smiled and leaned into her, his lips meeting hers.

He pulled back and looked at her face, her eyes closed. She looked like an angel. He loved it when she had her hair down.

Mikaela opened her eyes slowly and looked at him. Breathe, take a breath, in and out, she thought. Being blue in the face really clashes with your hair.

"You ok?" He put a hand to her face.

"Yes." She smiled. She followed him as he led her on his car. It was just a two door Ford hatchback, she knew he only got it for times when he really needed to drive, otherwise he took his bike everywhere.

After brunch they walked to the park across the street from the cafe and walked around and talked for a while. They found a shady spot under a weeping willow tree and sat down.

"So, do you have any siblings?" Sam asked as he lay on his back an arm under his head, his knees bent. He had run back to the car when they had decided to sit for awhile and grabbed a blanket from the trunk.

Mikaela lay on her side and on Sam, her head on his chest. Shit, I hate this part. She'd done this a few times and had the details she was willing to share imprinted on her tongue. "Yes. I have a brother. He's older and lives in the states. I haven't seen him in several years."

Sam frowned and looked at her. "That sounded kind of rehearsed."

She sat up on her elbows and frowned. "Rehearsed?" She reviewed what she said. It had sounded matter of fact, shit. She sighed. "Sorry. I didn't mean it to sound that way. I just, I don't know, I don't talk about Xavier much." She looked down.

"It's ok. I'm sorry to bring up something painful." Sam gave her a reassuring smile.

"That's ok, you didn't know." She shrugged. "Xavier is, a complicated subject." To say the fucking least, she thought.

"Ok. So you told me you moved here from Aylmer. I went there once for a training. It's a long way from here."

She settled back on her side, her head back on his chest, her hand over his heart. "It is. I've always wanted to live in a city ever since I was a little girl. Once I was old enough, I left and I haven't looked back."

He moved his hand on her back and rubbed. He could tell her family was a touchy subject for her. Hell, it was a touchy subject for him too, especially his father.

Mikaela liked the feel of his strong hand rubbing her back. She looked up at him and moved herself closer to his face. She watched his face, seeing his eyes soften and his mouth relax. She put a hand up and touched his face gently. She inched up more and pulled at him slightly until their lips met.

She started softly at first, letting their lips touch and release. She felt a growing need in him and opened her mouth slightly, letting her tongue glide across his lips. He moaned softly and she delved deeper, exploring his mouth. His tongue massaged hers and he rolled so that they were side by side, his hands explored her body and stopped at her buttocks where he pulled her to him. He rolled her onto her back, never letting their mouths separate.

He pulled back and looked at her. Those eyes, he thought. They were as green as emeralds, filled with desire and hunger. He kissed her again, deeply and passionately. He let his hand slip under her shirt and reviled at the feel of her soft skin. "Mikaela." He groaned.

They had gone to a secluded corner of the park, away from the bike path and open areas. This was their own little oasis and he was glad. He kissed her gently. She looked a little afraid. "Are you ok?"

She smiled up at him. Oh she was way more than ok. "Just a little nervous," she whispered. She had been thinking about this for some time, she just wasn't so sure it should be in a public place. "Maybe we should go to your apartment." She hated to say it because she knew it would ruin the moment a little, but she didn't want them to get caught. It'd look bad for an SRU officer to be caught like this in public.

Sam thought about that for a second. She was right. Jesus, what had he been thinking? Desire had taken over his good sense. What if they got caught? Smarten up Braddock, he thought angrily. "You're right. Sorry, lost my mind for a minute." He stood and looked down at her, the fire still burning. She looked a little upset. He put out a hand to her.

Oh god, I really did it now, she thought. He's angry I stopped him. He put out a hand and suddenly looked concerned. She took the hand and let him pull her up, taking the blanket with her.

He pulled her in close and kissed her again. He pulled back and looked seriously into her eyes. "I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself. This could've been embarrassing if we'd gotten caught, especially for an SRU officer."

"That's what I was thinking." Mikaela nodded. She saw his eyes change and he pulled her even closer, his desire for her still evident.

"Follow me?" He said huskily and grabbed her hand. When she nodded he sprinted back to the car with her following closely behind him. It started to rain as they got closer and by the time they reached the car they were soaked.

Once they were in the car, Mikaela snuggled up to Sam, one hand on his neck, the other on his knee. She had her body pressed next to him, making him drive faster than he normally would. Luckily they didn't get pulled over and made it to his apartment. Mikaela started to walk to the stairs, but Sam pulled her towards the elevator.

Once inside, Sam pulled her close and started kissing her passionately. He reached down and pulled on her leg so that it was up by his hip. He turned them and pressed her into the wall. Once the doors opened, he turned from her and grabbed her hand, pulling her with him. They got to his door and he fumbled for the key.

Mikaela leaned against the door and grabbed his shirt, pulling him to her. She kissed him passionately. Suddenly she was walking backwards and let him steer her towards the bedroom.

Sam had his hands all over her as they made their way to the bedroom door. "Oh god." He mumbled when he saw her for the first time. He walked her into the bedroom and shut the door. He threw his clothes off. She sat on the bed smiling, her lids half closed.

Mikaela smiled at him. What a body, she thought. The two hour workouts are definitely paying off. She drank him in, noting that he had many scars, obviously JTF2 and the SRU had been pretty rough. She beckoned him forward and he obeyed. She ran both hands over his chest and abdomen. Good god he was beautiful. In a rush she pulled him to her.

Sam's head was reeling. My god she was stunning. He let her pull him to her and he started kissing her everywhere.

The two became one and found their rhythm. "Oh Sam." She groaned. He sped up and she felt the waves crashing harder and harder.

Sam could feel the oblivion edging to the surface. "Mikaela." He grunted. He felt oblivion as it moved closer. He leaned closer to her and could see she was nearly there as well. The slight change gave them both what they needed and they exploded together, feeling it wash over them in waves. He put his head down next to hers and tried to catch his breath. He could feel she was doing the same.

Mikaela put a hand up and rubbed his neck, lacing her fingers into his hair.

He rolled to his side and put his head on his elbow on the pillow, looking at her. He kept his other hand on her stomach. He smiled slyly as he watched her trying to catch her breath.

Mikaela lay there dazed. She felt him watching her and turned on her side, mirroring his pose, except that she pulled her knees up closer to her body.

Sam's hand fell from her stomach when she turned on her side but he put it on her hand when she moved it in front of him. He watched her pull her knees up and wondered about it. She looks like she's protecting herself. From him? She wasn't saying anything which was also a little worrying. "That was amazing." He said honestly.

As good as Jules, she thought. No, don't think that. "Tell me about it." She smiled. She inched closer and gave him a lingering kiss. She kept her eyes closed as she pulled back, unsure if she wanted to see what he was thinking through those amazing eyes.

"You ok?" Sam looked at her. She looked unsure. She had to know how he had felt just now.

"Oh yeah." She half-smiled. Stop second guessing yourself, she chided herself silently. He's not comparing you to her.

"You don't really look like you believe me." He raised an eyebrow.


	5. Chapter 5

"You don't look like you believe me." He raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, well-" she looked at their hands.

"I see I may have to convince you." He raised both eyebrows twice and reached a hand towards her. She gasped when he touched her already sensitive skin. This time they took their time and enjoyed exploring each other's bodies. When they reached the peak, it was like fireworks were going off and they were the only ones that could hear them.

Sam sat on the bed, fully dressed waiting for her to come out of the bathroom.

Mikaela looked at herself in the mirror as she washed her hands. Her hair was a mess. She used her fingers and combed through it. She opened the cabinet and found a comb. She wetted it and used it to pull out the tangles. She removed her hair from it and threw it in the trash, putting the comb back where it was. She walked back out, picked up her clothes on her way and stopped near him.

"Hello beautiful." Sam said as he watched her swish her way towards him still naked. He wasn't sure he could go again, but she made him want to try.

Mikaela turned on instinct to see who he was talking to. She realized he was talking to her and blushed as she pulled on her underwear and skirt.

Sam frowned. He reached out, put a finger under her chin and lifted her face to him. "I'm talking to you." Her green eyes flicked to his blue ones and he saw embarrassment.

"Sorry, natural reaction." She shrugged as she finished fastening her bra and threw her shirt over her head.

"Why?" He frowned and turned on the bed so he was facing her. He took her hand in his.

Mikaela shrugged. Her step-father's words ringed in her ears. "No one will ever want a red headed, ugly, freckle face like you! Now make my dinner bitch!" The expected slap was so hard it knocked her to the ground. She had scrambled up and out of his way into the kitchen. "It's good enough for you." She had said angrily.

Sam looked in her eyes. They were distant and lost in a memory. "What do you mean?" He squeezed her hand and she pulled away.

"Don't touch me you filthy piece of shit!" She stood and started walking backwards, her eyes empty green orbs.

Sam stood and put a hand up, palm out. "Mik. It's Sam. You're not there. You're here with me and you're safe. Do you hear me?"

She looked at him, confused. Her step father never said things like that. She backed up against something hard and froze. She put a trembling hand behind her and found the doorknob. Gotta get away, can't let him, not anymore.

"I'm not moving. I'm staying right here Mikaela." Sam sat on the bed by the pillows they had just been laying on not a half hour before. What was going on, he thought. She was starting to become more aware, but she was locked in some hellish memory. He tried again, using his calm negotiator voice. He wished the Boss or Jules were here, they were so much better at this. "Mikaela. Talk to me. Where are you right now?"

"No." She sobbed. "I can't." She leaned against the door for support and put a hand to her face.

"Are you coming back to me now?" He desperately wanted to pull her into his arms, but he wasn't sure if she was ready.

She slid down the door to the floor and pulled her knees into her chest, her head buried in her arms, sobs shaking her shoulders.

"Ok. I'm going to come down there ok?" Sam watched her as she slowly lowered himself to the floor and scooted to her. He carefully put a hand on her shoulder. When her head flew up and her pain filled eyes locked with his he pulled her to him and into his lap, her knees on either side of his legs, her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and put one hand on her neck.

They stayed that way for several minutes until she had stopped crying, but was still holding onto him for dear life. She loved the comfort, but she was trying to avoid the conversation she knew he would want to have.

Sam waited patiently after she calmed. He knew she was stalling. Finally he said, "I can't really go to work like this unless you want to try to replace my vest." He got the reaction he was looking for.

Mikaela let out a short laugh and pulled back to look at him. I must look like such a mess, she thought. She sniffed and wiped her eyes. She looked at him sheepishly. She could see he was waiting for her to say something so she stood and walked into the bathroom behind him, closing the door softly so as not to hit him with it.

Ok, he thought. He stood and went into the living room, giving her some privacy.

Mikaela sat on the toilet. I really didn't want to fucking deal with this so soon, she thought angrily. She knew she'd have to tell him something, it was doubtful he'd let it go. She blew her nose a couple more times and threw water on her face. She walked back into his room and looked at the bed. It was the first time for them as a couple and the first time since she had left her life behind six months ago.

She took a deep breath and walked into the living room. He was sitting on the couch and looked at her with concern when she left the bedroom. She fidgeted with her fingers as she walked towards him and sat next to him on the couch. She looked at him cautiously, scared about what he would think of her little outburst.

He watched her approach and could see she was nervous about talking to him about whatever that was. "Are you ok?" He asked cautiously.

"Yeah. Sorry about that." She looked down at her hands and saw his strong ones take hers.

"You don't have to apologize to me Mik. I just want to know what happened so I can avoid you having to go through that again." He said honestly.

"Just a bad memory. It's weird though, I haven't had an episode like that since-" Oh fuck, she thought. I forgot my meds this morning. No wonder she had a flashback episode. Those had stopped once she switched to the Toprol. It had been her saving grace since she moved to Toronto. She had been able to start over and get her life in order.

"Since when?" Sam frowned.

"I moved here." She supplied but didn't say anything else. If he knew about her meds, no he didn't need to know, not now. She'd dated a few guys before and had made the mistake of being upfront about her meds and sleep apnea. One guy actually laughed and pointed at her. The others had finished their dates, but had never called her again. She tried to find out why but it had been painfully obvious, she was too screwed up for them. She wasn't making that mistake again. She had learned to protect herself and she wasn't stopping now.

"Ok." Sam nodded. He saw fear and panic rise in her eyes. He took her hand and looked at her until she trained her gaze on him. "Look, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. It was obviously something very painful that happened to you. I just want you to know that I'm here and anytime you want to tell me you can. You can trust me Mik."

She gave an audible sigh of relief which made Sam smile. She smiled back. Oh good, she thought. "It's just, too soon." She hoped that would be acceptable.

"I understand." Sam said although he wasn't so sure he did. A relationship was built on love and trust, not lies and secrets. "You ok?"

"Yes. You?" Mikaela relaxed and smiled.

"Good." Sam smiled. He turned and leaned back on the couch, getting comfortable. He put his arm out to her and winked. She smiled and snuggled in next to him, her head on his shoulder and hand on his heart. He put his right hand on her head and stroked her hair. "I don't care what anyone else told you, you are extremely beautiful. Fuck anyone that doesn't think so."

She looked up at him. "Thank you." She moved up and gave him a tender kiss. She appreciated him so much right now. He had not pushed her and had even said she could trust him. It meant so much to her. She looked at him and deepened the kiss, letting her tongue go on another expedition.

Sam really liked kissing her. It always started out soft and tender and became more urgent as her desire rose. He put both hands on her face and kissed her deeply. He pulled back from her, breathless. Guess he could go three rounds, he thought as he pulled back from her and stood. He put his hand out to her and smiled impishly. She smiled, took his hand and followed him to the bedroom.

It was quite a while later before they appeared in the living room again. Sam looked at the clock above the TV, by the door and was shocked, 1615. He looked at Mikaela and smiled. "Guess we should think about supper."

She looked up at the clock, 4:15. Wow. They'd been, busy, for almost the whole afternoon. She smiled at Sam. It'd been an amazing afternoon though. Well, except for her little episode. Luckily that had been forgotten already. "I guess so." She said surprised.

"You feel like anywhere specific?" Sam went to the kitchen and pulled out his take out menus.

Mikaela couldn't help it. She laughed every time he handed her the stack of menus and this wasn't different.

"Guess I just need someone that can cook." He said into her ear and kissed her cheek as she sat on the couch thumbing through them. He sat next to her and made a few suggestions.

"I will definitely cook for you sometime. I'd love to. Maybe you can invite Spike and Lew over and we can have a little mini-dinner party." She looked at him seriously.

Sam laughed. "My favorite couple."

"They are so cute. I wish I had a close friend like that." Mikaela said adoringly then her voice dropped on the second part.

"You must have friends." Sam said surprised.

"Well, I have a couple clients I think of as friends, but that can be tough especially when one is late on making a payment for class." She looked at him. "Here, let's just do Timmy's. I love their food." She handed him the menu.

"Yeah that would be tough." He agreed and took the menu from her. "Ok. Know what you want?"

She nodded and gave him her order. When he came back from ordering she said, "I wish I could just tell her no more classes until she pays, but I don't want to lose her as a client completely."

Sam sat on the couch next to her. "Why can't you tell her? I'm sure she'll understand you have a business to run." He took her hand and kissed it. "I love that you're so sweet and generous, but you can't let people walk all over you. Once they know they can do it, they'll keep doing it and your business will go under."

She nodded. "You're right. Sorry Karen Kawoltzki, business before bitches."

Sam laughed heartily. She was so funny, he thought for the millionth time. He leaned in and kissed her sweetly.

She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Careful Constable, you could be inciting a fourth riot."

He chuckled. "Oh the riots have ended for today."

She smiled. Wow, she thought. He just had to kiss her to get her going again. She just couldn't get enough of him. Oh man, she thought. It couldn't be already could it? She bit her lip when he wasn't looking. No, she can't be. She shook her head and sat back on the couch with him, their fingers intertwined as they waited for their supper.

##### SRU HQ, Monday 1200 #####

"Sorry." Sam hurried into workout and headed to one of the machines. He knew he was screwed. Ed would be yelling any second now.

"Constable Braddock." Ed said sternly. "You're late. Therefore, you are to get the Timmy's run after workout."

"No problem." Sam nodded. He started to use the machine and noticed Spike was looking at him. He looked at Spike questioningly.

"Aww, leave him alone Ed. I'm sure he was with Mikaela last night." Spike raised his eyebrows twice. "Weren't ya?"

Sam looked around and caught Jules' eye for a second before she turned back to the TV, completely engrossed in the program. Damn it. He didn't want to hurt her. It was her decision to end it, his conscious told him. She told you she loved you and dumped you. You're friends, she can handle it. "Uh, yeah. We spent the day together." He nodded and grunted as he lifted weights.

"Oh." Wordy's voice went up and then back down. "Nice."

"Yeah. What did you think of her?" He said changing the subject. He was thankful when they started regaling him with all the positive things they had seen in her, even Jules.

Jules shrugged and said, "she seems nice. Avoided a few questions, but that's normal. She kicked your butt in that last play." She smiled.

Sam was relieved she was saying nice things about Mikaela. He smiled and gave her a small nod of thanks after.

"Yeah who knew there was someone that could outrun our Samtastic!" Lew said teasingly.

"Yeah well, we'll put her on the course and see how she does." Sam said competitively.

"Is that a bet I hear?" Ed asked, eyebrows raised.

Sam looked at Ed and smiled knowingly. No way she could beat him on the course. "Oh yeah. What's the stakes?"

"First round at The Goose after shift tomorrow. Think she could make it here tomorrow before workout?" Ed stated confidently.

"I'll see if she can squeeze it in. Shouldn't take long." Sam said cockily.

"Ooh." Wordy's mouth formed an O. "Spike, Lew, side bet?" He looked at them questioningly. "Five bucks?"

"You are on. We get Samtastic." Spike looked at Lew and was glad to see him nod.

"Sarge? Jules?" Wordy looked at Greg.

Greg waved him off. "No thanks."

Jules looked at Wordy and smiled. "I got Mikaela. I say, she's going to mop the floor with him." She looked poignantly at Sam.

"Ha. You wish." Sam said as he finished his first set.


	6. Chapter 6

Spike noticed that Sam had become quiet during the workout after that had discussed Mikaela. He had cracked a few jokes but the smile never quite reached Sam's eyes. So, he had volunteered to help Sam with the Timmy's run.

Once they were in the SUV and headed to the Timmy's a couple blocks away, Spike looked at Sam.

Sam felt his gaze and smiled. "What's up Spike?"

"Nothing. What's up with you?" Spike raised an eyebrow. In the months since his abduction by 'her', Spike has leaned heavily on Sam and Lew. They'd helped him get back on his feet and kept him from giving up a few times when something triggered his memories of that horrible place and what had happened there. He went to the spot a couple times, but once he had bulldozed the building the property was sold and a mansion was put up in its place. It had sealed their bond as brothers and made Spike more aware about when Sam needed to talk.

Sam kept a half smile on his face. He couldn't always hide from Spike. "Something happened with Mikaela."

"Yeah? What?" Spike said curiously.

This was hard. He really wasn't a kiss and tell kind of guy. He could avoid that part. "All I said to her was that she was beautiful, but she freaked out."

"That's weird." Spike said with interest.

"Yeah. She was so.. lost for a few minutes. Like she was somewhere else remembering something horrible." He looked at Spike. "It was bad."

Spike was very familiar with that sort of episode. Sam and the team had pulled him out of more than one after his abduction. He knew that dark place very well, and so did Sam. Spike looked at him. He'd been through alot in his life, too much. More than one person should have to bear. "Did she talk about it after?"

"No. I tried to get her talk, but she only said it was a bad memory and kind of blew it off. I don't know, what do you think?" Sam pulled into a parking spot in front of the Timmy's, put it in park and turned off the engine.

"Well, how long have you been seeing her?" Spike asked.

"This will be three weeks." Sam put up a hand and dropped it back to the steering wheel.

"It's still really early. I mean, how much do you actually know about her? How much does she know about you?" Spike asked seriously.

Sam was glad Spike had decided to come with him on the Timmy's run. Spike knew he could handle it alone, but he had known Sam wanted to talk. "True. I know a few basic things, but she doesn't talk about before she moved here."

"Does she know about you before you moved here?" Spike raised an eyebrow.

"She knows I'm former JTF2 and that I have a sister."

"Ok. Well, that's a good start." Spike smiled. "There's probably some stuff I don't know. And I would never pressure you to tell me if you don't want to." He said pointedly.

"True." Sam nodded. He was being too paranoid. "Thanks Spike."

"Coitenly." Spike did his best Curly impression and the hand movement. He was pleased when Sam laughed heartily. Spike studied his friend for a moment. He knew Sam had good instincts so he said, "if anything else comes up, let me know. I can always do a background check." Spike said and got out of the SUV.

Sam followed him. "Thanks but I can't do that."

"You wouldn't have to." Spike winked, patted Sam's side and went inside.

Nine hours later, a tired Team One gathered at the desk. It'd been a hell of a day. "Hey, hey. Team Five is still at that motel standoff. Would you mind sticking around until they got back?" Winnie asked as she looked at her clipboard, then sat down.

Ed looked at her and blinked. Damn, Soph said she was making lasagna tonight. A little candlelight, a little romance. She was going to be pissed. He hit his hand on the desk and said, "yup no problem. Guys you copy that?" He got a scattered 'copy that' from each.

Wordy pulled out his phone and dialed. "Shelly, I'm gonna be late tonight, let me say goodnight to the girls?"

Ed put his phone to his ear. "Soph? Yeah. Got a little bit of OT."

"But I made your favorite, lasagna. Clark's staying at a friend's." Sophie trailed off suggestively.

"I know. Alright, save me some."

Sam turned towards the windows. "Hey."

"Hi honey. How are you?" Mikaela smiled.

"I'm good thanks." He smiled.

Jules watched him for a moment and turned away. I wish I had someone to call, she thought.

"I've got our late night picnic all set up." Mikaela looked at the blanket and food she was setting out for them. She had wanted to do something romantic since they probably weren't going to see each other much this week. She hardly ever stayed up later than midnight, but she would for him.

"Yeah we have to postpone tonight."

"Aww well that's too bad. I have a nice set up here. A little food a little wine, a little me."

He sucked in his breath over his teeth and laughed, low and sexy. "I'm sorry."

"That's ok, you can make it up to me sometime soon." Mikaela said suggestively.

Sam bit his bottom lip. "You know I will."

"Oh I do. Bye handsome." She smiled.

"Oh hey, before you go, do you want to try out our obstacle course with me tomorrow? Do you have time?"

"Hmm. Sounds like fun. I'll squeeze it in. What time?"

"11:30." Sam said.

"Ok. See you then." Mikaela leaned down and was going to start picking up everything when she had an idea. She could at least leave it as a gift. She had made homemade fried chicken, biscuits and mashed potatoes with gravy. Ok, so she had stopped at KFC, but it was the thought that counts. She wrote a quick note and left it on the blanket. She locked up and returned to her apartment.

Two hours later, Sam walked into his apartment to find a blanket laid out with a couple of candles and a picnic basket. He looked towards the bedroom. Was she still here? He heard the oven click and saw that it was on. He went to it and opened the door. When he did the smell of fried chicken wafted to him. Oh man that smells good, he thought. He grabbed a pot holder, took everything out of the oven and turned it off. "Mik?"

He walked to the bedroom and checked the bathroom. Nope. She was gone. He walked back to the kitchen, pulled a plate from the cupboard and filled it. He walked to the blanket set in front of the coffee table that was pushed up against the couch. He sat on the blanket and saw the note on the basket. He smiled and opened it. Hey sweet thing, no sense letting this amazing feast that I spent all day slaving over go to waste. Maybe next time. See you tomorrow. Mik.

Sam smiled and put the note down. He looked to the kitchen at the KFC containers and laughed. Slaved all day huh? Funny girl, he thought.

##### SRU HQ, Tuesday 1115 hrs #####

Mikaela walked up to the group standing at the beginning of an intimidating looking course. "Hey guys." She smiled.

Sam turned and smiled at her. He stepped forward and hugged her. "Hey."

"How are you?" Mikaela asked as she stepped back from him.

"Good." Sam looked at the course, then back at her with an eyebrow raised. "We'll walk it first since I already know it."

"Ok." Mikaela shrugged.

"Are you nervous?" Spike asked as the group walked the course.

"Should I be?" Mikaela raised an eyebrow at him.

"Nah. It's a challenge, but you're really fit, you should be fine." Spike waved it off.

They showed her the ten obstacles spread over a winding mile course, then walked back to the beginning. Sam and Mikaela both started stretching and doing calisthenics to get their bodies ready.

Before they started, Mikaela turned to the group. "So what are the stakes?"

They were all stunned, but Spike spoke up. "Uh, what do you mean?"

Mikaela tipped her head and rolled her eyes. "Come on. All of a sudden Sam wants us to run your training course?" She looked at Sam and bumped into him playfully. "What's. The bet?" She looked from Sam to Ed.

Ed smiled. "First round at The Goose after shift. If Sam wins I pay. If you win, he pays."

She tipped her head to the side and straightened it. Sounded fair. She looked at Wordy, Spike, Lew and Greg. "And you guys?"

"I'm out." Greg put his hands up.

Spike looked at Lew. "$5."

"On?" Mikaela raised a brow.

Spike cleared his throat. "Sam."

"I have my money on you." Wordy smiled.

"Me too." Jules nodded.

Mikaela was a little surprised at that. She smiled devilishly. "I want in."

"Sure." Spike shrugged.

"On both." Mikaela said.

"What? How would that work?" Sam frowned at her.

"I assume that Sam probably holds the course record?" Mikaela looked at Greg. When he nodded she continued. "Ok, so for me to win, I not only have to beat Sam, I have to beat his course record. I don't, I will match the total pot PLUS buy the first round tonight."

"Whoa." Sam, Spike and Wordy said together.

"Are you sure?" Sam turned to her and put a hand on her arm.

Mikaela laughed softly. "Very." She eyed him. "Are you nervous?"

The cocky, self-assured guy came out and he said, "not in the slightest."

"Oh really?" Mikaela laughed. "Well, I guess we'll see." She walked past him to the starting point.

Sam smiled after her. Damn, he thought, she's as competitive as I am. And she's very confident. He wasn't too sure he liked that.

Sam look at Greg. He had the stopwatch ready and was standing at the start line. "Ok Mikaela, the time to beat is 7 minutes, 22 seconds. You must hit every obstacle and no short cuts."

"Got it." Mikaela got in a ready position with one foot back and her arms bent at her sides.

"Ready?" When they both nodded, Greg yelled, "go!"

Both of them took off like a shot and headed to the first obstacle, an eight foot wall they had to climb over. Mikaela jumped and used the small lip on the side to put push off of and land at the top of the wall.

Sam was shocked as he launched himself at it and grabbed the top. He used his arms to pull himself up as he ran with his feet on the wall. His momentum got him up and over, but he was just behind Mikaela.

"Oh Sam's in trouble." Spike said to Lew as they jogged beside Sam and Mikaela. Looks like Mikaela is a little parkour." He joked.

The group laughed and watched Sam and Mikaela easily walk the logs five feet up over a big vat of water. They ran side by side and threw themselves into the mud as they made their way under barbed wire and up an incline. Once they reached the top they came to a grid of rings hanging from a wooden frame. They both easily swung their way across the 15 foot expanse with a huge puddle under it.

Next they climbed up a cargo net which Mikaela stumbled a little bit on which gave Sam a five second lead. They came to black piping buried under ground and Mikaela flew through them to catch up to Sam.

"Five minutes! Pick it up!" Greg announced.

"Come on Mikaela!" Jules yelled.

"Don't let her beat you Sam!" Lew called.

Sam looked behind him, sure that Mikaela had fallen behind even more and was surprised to see her almost next to him. Damn she was fast, he thought.

They reached the monkey bars together and blazed across. They hit the rope climb and they both shimmied up very quickly. They climbed down the other side which was basically a 10 foot climbing wall. The last obstacle was they had to carry a dummy on their shoulder to the end. Mikaela's was 180lbs while Sam's was 230lbs. They picked up their dummies, Mikaela with a grunt, and sprinted for the end. Sam was ahead of Mikaela by nearly a foot when Mikaela turned on the speed at the last second and went through the finish line tape first.

Mikaela dropped the dummy and, panting put her arms up in victory. "Whoo!" She looked at Greg. He looked a little disappointed. "What's the time? Did I make it?" She asked excitedly.

Sam went to stand by Greg and looked at the stopwatch. He looked up at Mikaela in disbelief.

"Well?" Mikaela couldn't stand the anticipation.

Greg turned the stopwatch around. It read 6.155.

"Yeah!" Mikaela jumped up in the air. Jules laughed and put her hand up. They all high fives her, even Sam.

"Damn." Sam smiled. He was a little miffed that she had beat him, but he was proud of her too. He pulled her into a hug. "Nicely done honey."

"Thanks." Mikaela pulled back and looked at him. "Not mad?"

Sam threw his head back. "Nah. I think it's awesome." He smiled at her devilishly. "Although I'm going to be out here a lot trying to break that record."

"I figured as much." Mikaela laughed.


	7. Chapter 7

Everyone ran up to Mikaela and Sam. There were exclamations of "Wow!" "Congrats!" "You were both on fire!", and people passing money to Jules and Wordy.

"Oh my god! That was amazing!" Spike gushed.

Mikaela shrugged and smiled. "Thanks."

"So, you know parkour?" Spike walked next to Mikaela as they headed inside.

"A little." Mikaela smiled shyly. She looked at Sam. "I've had some, practice, you could say on obstacle courses."

"You have?" Sam said surprised.

"Yeah. I love doing the Tough Mudder." Mikaela turned to Spike. "It's a 10 to 12 mile course and the obstacles are thought up by U.S. Navy Seals." She turned back to Sam. "Ice cold water to swim in, deep mud, electric shocks, heights, fire. You have a fear, I guarantee there's one on the course that will test it."

"Well, probably not cats." Spike quipped.

"Aw come on!" Ed said angrily. Everyone laughed.

"Oh right. They do one here in Toronto right?" Jules asked.

"Yes. I actually haven't done that one yet. It's in September this year. I've gone to ones in the states. There's actually one in New York City believe it or not." Mikaela explained. They walked inside and headed to the workout room.

"Yeah," Jules scoffed. "Surviving New York City would be pretty tough."

"I like the one in Vermont. It's at a ski resort, so you have to go up and down the mountain at least twenty times. It's so hard. But, I got a fast enough time last year that I qualified for The World's Toughest Mudder."

"Wow." Wordy said.

"What's that?" Greg asked.

"It's like Tough Mudder, but it's a little shorter. You have to run the course as many times as you can in 24 hours. It's brutal." Mikaela explained.

"That's amazing that you want to do that." Lew said, impressed.

"I spend the summer running those kinds of events. There are so many different ones now and of varying lengths, 5k, 10k." Mikaela lifted a shoulder. "It's fun and keeps me in shape."

"That is cool." Spike smiled. "Maybe this year we'll have an SRU team." He looked at the group.

"Maybe." Ed agreed. He wasn't so sure about purposely putting his body through something like that. The obstacle course was a necessary evil, but to do it for fun?

"The best thing about it is it benefits The Wounded Warrior Project. It helps wounded service men and women and their families with programs and events to not only help them survive, but thrive." Mikaela explained.

"Hoo rah." Sam said. Everyone echoed his sentiment.

Mikaela looked at her watch and jumped. "Oh, I've gotta get to work. I'll see you guys later at The Goose." She waved to them, turned and walked out.

"I'll walk you out." Sam said and followed her.

There were rounds of "bye" and "see you later".

They got out to her car and Mikaela stopped and turned to Sam. "That was fun." She smiled.

"I think I was set up." Sam said and put his arms around her waist.

"Know your opponent." She said slyly and put her arms on his shoulders.

"Mmm. I guess I have some things to learn."

She cocked an eyebrow. "I guess so." She smiled softly and pulled him to her with her arms. She touched her lips softly to his, feeling that instant spark. She deepened the kiss and then pulled away. "See you tonight?"

"Yeah." Sam ran a hand up and down her side. "Have a good rest of your day."

Mikaela opened the door to her car and said, "you too. Be safe out there." She got in and closed the door, rolling the window down.

"We will." Sam nodded, waved and went back into the building.

Mikaela turned on the car and watched him go. She pulled out of her parking space, pulled out of the parking lot and into traffic. She smiled as she thought about Sam. So competitive. She was sure he'd probably be running the course several times this week to try to beat her. She pulled into her parking spot in the parking lot of her building and rushed inside.

She undid the three locks and slammed the door closed. She ran to her bedroom, undressed and padded into the bathroom, closing the door. She did not see the man on her couch watching with interest. Nor did she see him when she walked out of the bathroom ten minutes later and walked into her room, not until he spoke.

"Well well. You haven't changed much have you?" The deep voice said from the dark corner.

Mikaela froze, a hand covering her chest over the towel. No no it can't be, she thought. I've been so careful. "Who are you?" She couldn't keep the tremble from her voice.

"Come on now. You know who I am." He drawled. "Karen."

"Who? I don't know anyone by that name." She edged toward her bedside table.

"Are we really gonna play this game darlin'?" He sighed. "Stop moving." She heard the familiar click of a gun being cocked.

"What do you want?" She stole a glance at the bedside table and stealthily grabbed her phone. She knew it would beep when she turned it on, so she said loudly, "I don't know who this Karen person is, please leave." That was enough for her to turn it on and dial 911.

##### SRU HQ, 1245 hrs #####

Winnie listened intently to the open 911 call and hit the klaxon alarm. She knew Team One was just starting their workout, but Team Five was still out on a call. "Team One, hot call."

Ed turned his head when he heard the alarm, then looked to the team. "Let's go." They all ran from the room and upstairs to the desk.

"What do we-" Greg asked but Winnie put her index finger up and shushed him.

Winnie put a hand on her headset and listened. She looked up, fear in her eyes. "Open 911 call, sounds like a man and a woman talking but it was flagged because the dispatcher heard this, she flipped a switch and they heard a female voice whisper. "Help me Braddock." Winnie looked at Sam.

Sam frowned and listened to the conversation.

"Why'd you have to go and run off like that darlin'? You know Daddy-" a male voice drawled.

"You are NOT my Daddy!" The female yelled. "You're just a sick fuck-"

The man grunted, it sounded like a fist connecting and a thud. Sam looked at Greg in a panic. He recognized the voice. "Mikaela."

"Winnie, verify the address. Make sure the unis don't go in until we get there, just keep a perimeter. Have EMS standing by." Greg said as they rushed to the locker room to change and gear up.

Ten minutes later they gathered at the desk. Sam had his phone to his ear, desperately trying to call Mikaela. "No answer on her cell or home line." He looked from Spike to Greg, his fear growing.

"Sam, you ride with me and Ed. Let's go." Greg said and walked to the SUVs. Once they were on their way, Greg looked in the rearview, "Do you know of anyone that might have a beef with her?"

"No. Well she said she had a client that hadn't paid her yet and she was going to tell her she couldn't take any more classes until she paid." Sam shook his head trying to think. He sat in the back seat and looked out the side window.

"Ok, we'll check her out. Any odd behavior lately? Changes in routine?" Greg asked, trying to think of what she could be involved in.

"No. Not that I've seen." Sam shook his head.

"Sam." Spike said into his headset and looked from the passenger seat of his SUV to Wordy.

Sam frowned and then understanding lit his face. "The other day." Sam looked at Greg. "I don't know what happened. I told her she was beautiful and she freaked. It was like she was stuck inside a nightmare. After she came out of it, she said it was a bad memory and blew it off."

"But you're not so sure." Greg stated.

"Boss, she was lost, totally out of it. I couldn't get near her until she calmed down. Flight had definitely kicked in." Sam said, concern clouding his eyes.

Jules shared a look with Wordy in the rearview. This could be bad, real bad.

Lew listened to the conversation from the command truck as he followed them. He hoped this was just a break in, but it didn't sound that way.

"Sounds familiar." Greg looked at Sam pointedly.

Ed looked back from the front passenger seat. "I need to know Sam, can you keep your head on straight here? We don't know what we're going into."

"Yeah I'm good." Sam nodded. He wasn't so sure that was true. What if he had to take a Sierra on Mikaela if he was ordered to?

Ed nodded. He had to protect Sam the best he could from having to do the unthinkable. "I will be Sierra One. You take tactical."

Sam nodded. He understood the reason for the switch and appreciated Ed taking Sierra. I hope she's ok, he thought. Please let her be ok.

#### Mikaela's apartment, 1244 hrs ####

Mikaela could hear the dispatcher trying to get her to talk but she put a hand over the earpiece so it was muffled. The man was talking, lecturing her actually about leaving her responsibilities and what a whore she was. He would know, she thought. He'd been calling her a worthless whore for the last 15 years of her life.

Her eyes had adjusted to the light and she could see him sitting in the corner, his 45 pointed at her. She had to get someone here to help her and she knew it had to be someone more than just regular police to deal with this asshole. She turned away from him, pretending to be scared of the gun. Please forgive me, she thought. "Help me Braddock." She whispered then turned back around.

"I don't think you're even listening to me." He drawled.

"I told you I'm not this Karen person you're looking for. Just leave and I won't tell anyone." She pleaded.

He stood, walked to the door and flicked on the light. "Why'd you have to go and run off like that darlin'? You know Daddy-" He drawled. He looked her up and down hungrily. Maybe he'd teach her a lesson night here and now.

"You are NOT my Daddy!" She yelled, her anger instant. "You're just a sick fuck-" She didn't see his big fist coming straight for her eye and when it connected she immediately faded into the blackness.

Peter caught her as she fell. The towel slipped off, revealing her luscious body. He started to put a hand on her breast when he heard a siren outside. He looked down at the phone still in her hand and ripped it away. Goddamned bitch! He hit the button, moved to the window and saw two police cars stop in front of the building, four officers jumped out.

Shit! He picked her up, one hand under her legs, he other holding her torso and grabbed the bag he had thrown her clothes in with the hand under her legs. How to get her out of here, he thought. He went to her living room window and saw a bread truck in the alley delivering to the restaurant next door. Next to it was a garbage chute with a dumpster under it.

He didn't have much time, it'd have to do. He took the blanket off the bed, put the bag down and wrapped her in the blanket. Bitch deserved to be sent to the dumpster naked, but he didn't want anyone to recognize her as anything more than the trash she was. He wrapped her as best he could so that when she exited the chute it would look like a bundle of old blankets.

One last glance at the window revealed a black SUV pulling up, followed by another one and a command truck. He had to get out now. He cautiously left the room, carrying the blankets and gym bag. He closed her her door and whistled as he walked away. He found the chute about 20 feet down the hall on the right. It wasn't very big. He fed her into the chute and listened as she slid down the metal chute with a whir. He smiled and continued down the hall, whistling as he went.

###########

AN: Tough Mudder is a real event that happens nearly year round. It's an awesome event (yes I have participated). If you have the obstacle course bug, check out their site to find an event near you and support a worthy cause.

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	8. Chapter 8

##### Outside of Mikaela's apartment 1251 hrs ####

Everyone jumped out of the SUVs and ran to the back, grabbing their guns and kits.

"Jules, you're with me. Sam, what's the location and layout?" Greg asked looking at Sam seriously.

"I don't know." Sam shook his head in frustration. Nearly three weeks together and he hadn't been to her apartment. As he looked back on it, she always made some kind of excuse. "I haven't been up there. I know it's on the third floor, number 315."

Spike walked up and put a hand on Sam's shoulder. He showed Sam the layout on his PDA. "It's the corner unit right there." He pointed to the corner with a small alleyway between buildings.

Sam nodded. "Ok, Ed see if you can get a good view from the apartment or office in the next building over." He pointed to it.

Ed nodded and said, "copy." He was glad he was able to turn tactical over to Sam. He just hoped this worked out for Mikaela. He ran down the alleyway and into a side door into the building.

Peter saw the bald officer run into the alleyway through the glass door as he reached the bottom of the stairs. He ducked back and watched the man open the door to the stairs for the other building. Holy shit that was close, he thought. He crept out the door and slid along the brick wall the five feet to the dumpster. He had to hurry. He could see one of the black SUVs, but no other officers. Looked like a tactical team to him.

Who had she gotten involved with? He knew they'd be canvassing the area soon and he'd be out of luck. He looked in the dumpster and saw the heap of blankets. He pulled her out, blankets and all, as fast as he could. He jogged back to his car at the back of the building, but there was an officer there checking out his car. Damn it. He put her down and walked to his car.

He frowned and looked at the officer. "Is there a problem Sir?" He made his voice sound whiny.

"I need you to move your car right now. Do you live in this building? Do you have ID?" The tall blonde with his pd cap on said authoritatively.

"Ok. No problem." Peter put his hands up and moved towards his car. He watched as the officer moved towards the alley and noticed the pile of blankets. Peter rolled his eyes. He knew with the other officers were close by so he couldn't fire his gun. Guess it'll have to be hands on, he thought. He turned and placed the man in a sleeper hold. He waited while the man fought silently then finally passed out.

He rushed to the blankets, picked them up and threw them onto the floor of the backseat. He reached in, found and uncovered her head and put a piece of duct tape over her mouth. He had pulled it from the roll on a clip on his belt. He put the blanket back over her and wound duct tape around her neck. He found her hands and duct taped those too. He heard the officer's radio asking for someone named William if they found anything. He had to go. Now.

Peter shut the door to the back and climbed in the driver side. He started the car and slowly backed out of the parking space. He slowly pulled out of the lot and took a left down the street. He made several more turns before he got on the highway and headed towards the edge of the city. He hadn't expected the cops to show up so now he needed to find somewhere quiet where they could be alone.

He saw a sign for the business district and smiled. There were always empty buildings, having been sold and not developed for one reason or another. He just had to find the right one.

Sam turned to Spike. He really hated to ask, but he knew it was necessary. "See what you can find on Mikaela's background. Associates, family, whatever there is. Lew, I need you on outside entry. Go to the roof and repel down to the window on the alley side and wait for my signal. Wordy, you're with me on entry." Sam looked around and wondered if he forgot anything until Jules stepped in front of him.

"You ok?" Jules looked him in the eye. She could see the fear and concern in the blue pools.

Sam looked up at the building and back at Jules. "Yep." He could see that she knew the truth, but he couldn't deal with it right now. The victim needed their help. "Ed?"

"In position across the way. No joy. I can't see anyone through either window." Ed looked through his scope and reported.

"Boss? Anyone talking?" Sam looked towards the people gathered on the sidewalk, residents that were home.

"They heard yelling and a thump. Silence after that until the PD did the evac." Greg looked towards Sam.

"We're coming to you." Sam signaled Wordy and Jules to follow him. "Anything Spike?"

Spike was looking at the screen, squinting and typing. He took a breath. Crap, this is not good, he thought. "No. I can't find anything on Mikaela Greene with an e on the end. Maybe I'm spelling her first name wrong?"

"M-I-k-a-e-l-a. DOB 7/15/89." Sam said looking back at the truck.

Spike typed it in again, but shook his head. "Nope. Sorry, nothing."

Sam looked up at the building. Who is she, he thought. "No Greenes spelled with or without the e at the end with that DOB? Even if you change your name, you don't stray too far from your actual birthday. Check for people born the month before or after."

"Ok. May have a big result." Spike started typing.

"Let's go." Sam moved to the door into the building. Wordy opened it while Jules and Greg covered. They moved inside and walked slowly and carefully up the stairs. They reached the third floor and moved along the landing to 315.

Greg got the phone number from Sam and dialed. They could hear it ringing inside, but no answer.

"Lew, Ed, any movement?" Sam whispered.

"No joy." Ed answered. He watched Lew, who was standing on the ledge between two windows edge to the window and peer in.

"No movement." Lew whispered.

"Lew, get ready. We go hard entry on my signal." Sam said. His heart started pounding as the adrenaline pumped through his system.

Lew kept his position, pulled a small explosive disk from the kit attached to his vest and placed it on the window. "Ready."

"3, 2, 1. Go!" Sam whispered.

Wordy swung the ram and busted open the door. Sam, Greg and Jules moved forward and Wordy followed after he dropped the ram. At the same time, Lew set off the explosive and shattered the glass. He jumped through the hole with his gun up. They all started yelling, "SRU! Show me your hands." "SRU! Freeze!" Jules moved around the corner, covered by Greg and cleared the kitchen. She turned and met gazes with Lew.

"Kitchen's clear." Jules said.

"Living room clear." Lew looked around. It was a little messy, but not bad. There were a few pieces of clothing thrown over the back of the couch and a bunch of magazines on the coffee table.

Sam and Wordy cleared the bathroom and then met up with Greg and moved to the next door. Lew and Jules stayed behind them. Sam counted down and they kicked opened the door. The room was empty. Sam moved into the room and went to the closet door.

When Greg was ready, he pulled open the door. Empty. "Clear." Sam kicked at the bottom of the closet and hit a box. "Dammit!" It tipped up on it's side and a bunch of stuff spilled out. Sam cursed under his breath and squatted down to pick up the stuff.

"Sam. I got about 50 hits on the name Greene with both spellings and birthdays between June and August. None have the first name Mikaela with any spelling variations." Spike sighed. "Sorry buddy."

"It's ok." Sam said distractedly.

Greg sat on the bed. "What's in there?"

Sam started picking up the items. A passport under the name Mikaela Greene with the same birthday she had given him. Her driver's license. There was a bunch of jewelry, and pictures. He picked the pictures up and looked through them. There were pictures of a smiling family, mom, dad, and two young girls. Both girls had brown hair and green eyes. The older girl looked like Mikaela, but the hair was really different. It was short, curly and brown.

The next picture showed the girls, the smaller girl on Mikaela's shoulders. It was bright and sunny in the background and he could see a pool behind them. The next was folded on one side. It was another family photo, but the little girl was gone and so were their smiles. He unfolded it and saw a different man with his arm around the woman, a big grin on his face and a shotgun in the other hand. He handed that one to Greg.

"Not so happy family." Greg commented.

"No. Definitely not." Sam said, although it was hard to keep the anger from his voice. There was a bunch of souvenirs, tickets to a Dallas Cowboys football game from a couple years ago. He looked at those closely. It was for in Dallas. "Spike. Check for any Greenes in the Dallas, Texas area with the birthday range."

"Texas?" Spike frowned.

"Yup. Found a ticket stub for a Cowboys game in Dallas. Long way to fly for a football game." Sam had reached the bottom of the box, but it didn't coincide with the depth of the box.

"You've got it." Spike started typing.

Jules picked up the mask next to the bed. "Did you know she has sleep apnea?"

Sam looked at Jules and shook his head, his eyes conveying his confusion and anger.

Wordy opened the medicine cabinet and inhaled sharply. Oh shit, this is not good, he thought. He picked up one of the bottles.

Lew had stayed in the small hall when they went in the room to give them room to search for answers. He leaned to the side and looked at Wordy who showed him the bottle.

"Wordy?" Greg called. He had heard the sudden intake of breath and it sent off an alarm in his head.

Wordy looked at Lew, then said, "found some pills in here, Toprol and Mirtazapine. Both prescribed to Mikaela Greene over a year ago."

"Checking." Spike said. "Ok, Toprol is for people with," he looked up, fear in his eyes, "a heart condition. Uh, Mirtazapine is used to treat major depression." Spike's heart dropped. It could be dangerous for Mikaela or whoever she was to miss a dose. His heart went out to Sam. He knew it couldn't be easy for him to hear this.

Sam shook his head at Greg's questioning look. No he didn't know. He didn't know this girl at all. Greg put a hand on his shoulder.

Lew looked towards the front door and noticed the locks. He went to them and looked at them. Three deadbolts. "The front door has three deadbolts on it. She was afraid of something or someone." He observed.

Greg looked up at the bedroom door, a deadbolt. "Deadbolt on the bedroom door too."

Sam looked up at the door. Damn. Someone had her really scared. So if her apartment was always so locked up, how did someone get in?

Jules turned and looked at the window behind her. Someone had to find another way in. "Here." She closed her eyes. Not secure enough, she thought. The fire escape was right outside the window which probably appealed because it could be a quick escape. "The window lock is on, but there are pry marks here. Someone wanted into this room in a bad way."

Sam shook his head and looked down at the box. He saw something in the corner of the box and touched it. He heard a click and a small door flipped open.

"Guys?" Spike heard the click. Never a good sound.

"No harm. There's a false bottom in the memory box I'm looking at." Sam sighed as he pulled out a driver's license from Texas and a passport. "Spike, I've got another name for you, Karen Greensby, DOB 6/15/89."


	9. Chapter 9

Peter pulled up in front of a two story building and parked. He smiled as he looked at the for sale or lease sign. Perfect. He looked into the back. She hadn't moved in a while. He hoped he hadn't taped her neck too tightly, he wanted to teach her a lesson before he rid himself of her for good. He punched into the middle of the mass and was pleased to hear her cry out and cough.

Mikaela had been awake for the last ten minutes or so, but had stayed as still as possible. She had been able to slowly and carefully get her fingers between her neck and the tape, loosening it. Bastard, she thought. She should've known he'd find her again. She hadn't gone far enough, she thought bitterly. There was only like 2,000 miles between here and Texas. She should've known it wasn't enough. She should've caught a flight to Europe.

She hadn't been able to help herself when she got to Toronto. It was a big city like Dallas which she loved. She thought maybe she could get lost in a big city. Then that night in the bar when she'd met Sam and Spike. She had felt an immediate attraction to those baby blues. Dammit. How had he found her again? She'd burned the house down trying to escape which had broken her heart. She loved her little house in Aylmer.

It had really pissed her off that she had to burn it down, but he would've found her if she hadn't. She had to do what she had to do. That included keeping Sam in the dark about her horrible past. She smiled as she thought about Sam. He was going to be so pissed. She took a breath and let a tear slip. She had to prepare herself for what was coming. If he was able to get her out of this, it was going to be hell and if he didn't, well hell pretty much covered it.

When the punch came, she folded in on herself and put her hands up to try to prevent the onslaught. Luckily, that was the only one. She knew there was more to come. She sent a plea to the cosmos, come on blue eyes, I need you.

Peter got out of the car and slammed the door close. He was pleased to see the blankets recoil and the mass within shift. He did a cursory check of the place and found a door around back that he could get in. He jogged around front and got back in the car. He moved it into the alleyway and around the back of the building. He got out, opened the door to the back, grabbed the blanket and pulled hard. He heard her scream and smiled when he realized he'd grabbed her hair. He leaned down, grabbed another part of the blanket and pulled it off of her.

He leered at her. She still had the towel on, but he could see her breasts. He always did admire her rack. She blinked up at him. He loved seeing the fear in her eyes, except this time there was no fear, just unadulterated rage. "Get out." He growled.

Mikaela scrambled up and climbed out of the car, holding onto the towel and keeping herself covered. She knew he probably wouldn't let the towel stay on for long. She could already see he was tenting his pants. She looked away, god he was so disgusting she wanted to vomit. She felt it rise in her throat and held it in. Don't give him the pleasure, she thought. She closed her eyes for a moment and forced her aching stomach to comply.

Peter leaned into the car, grabbed the bag then decided to leave it and threw it back down. He had planned on taking her back to Texas with him, but the police presence had pissed him off. No, better to finish this here. His new wife and infant daughter were waiting for him. He looked at her, anger and disgust in his eyes and face. "Move." He nodded to the door up the stairs in front of them.

"Why?" Mikaela dared to defy him. She knew she would die if she went in that building. He would make sure of it.

He kicked her hard in the lower back causing her to cry out. "Because I said so. Don't you defy me girl." He drawled and pointed to the door.

She backed up a little. "I'm not afraid of you." She said with anger.

"Bullshit." He rushed forward and punched her in the face and the stomach. He was surprised when she countered his punches with a couple of her own, both to the face. He reeled back from the punches and pulled the gun from his pocket. "Enough!" He raged.

Mikaela froze and wiped the back of her hand across her split lip. Damn that hurt, she thought. So does my back, when did he start wearing steel toed boots?

"Up the stairs or we finish this right here and now." When she just glared at him he said, "then I go find that blonde asshole you been seein' and end him too."

Fuck. How long had he been following her? "It's me you want. Not him." She said calmly. She knew Sam would probably kick Peter's ass easily, but she couldn't take the chance.

Peter smiled evilly. He knew that would motivate her. He'd followed them to his apartment the other day. She really had the hots for this guy and he knew he could use that against her. "That's what I thought. Go on now." He pointed the gun up the stairs.

They made their way inside and found a set of stairs to the second floor. They walked around, exploring the office space. It was really nice. There were six cubicles set up in the middle of the room, two doors to opaque glass walled rooms in front of them and two more to their right. Then a doorway into the kitchen and the bathroom. At the back were two more opaque glass walled rooms. He pointed the gun to the first room on the right. "There."

Mikaela walked forward and swallowed. I'll fight him off as long as I can, but please hurry Sam, she thought as she opened the door to the cozy office with a couch.

##### Inside Mikaela/Karen's apartment 1320 hrs #####

Sam looked at the passport picture angrily. The woman had short, brown curly hair, but it was Mikaela's face. Why didn't you tell me, he thought angrily. I could've helped you. He looked at the picture and couldn't help but feel betrayed. She had lied.

"Ok." Spike looked at the screen and read ahead before he gave them the details. Oh man, this is bad, he thought. "Karen Greensby. Born and raised in Desoto, Texas which is about an hour outside of Dallas. No record, although her family has been through a lot."

"Like what?" Greg asked as he watched Sam.

"Her sister Mikaela drowned in a neighbor's pool when she was seven. Mik- I mean Karen was ten. Then her father died the following year in a car accident. The report says Karen was with him when it happened. She was pulled from the wreckage by a Good Samaritan, Peter Young. Huh. Looks like he and her mother started dating a few months later and got married a little over a year later."

"What about Peter, Spike?" Lew asked.

"Peter Young. He has an interesting record. Assault, assault with a deadly weapon, attempted- oh." Spike paused and swallowed.

"What's the matter Spike?" Wordy asked as he left the bathroom and stood in the doorway to the bedroom.

"Uh, well it looks like Karen accused him of molesting and raping her but the charges were dropped. No evidence. She said it started while he and her mom were dating." Spike couldn't keep the concern and worry from his voice. "She left home when she was sixteen and disappeared for a few months, but she was still a minor so when she was caught they brought her home. She did six more disappearing acts until she turned 18 and disappeared for good. She's been on the run for four years." He said with wonder in his voice. He couldn't imagine.

Spike sighed when he saw the next part. "Her mom died eight months ago from a fall. Apparently she was bringing laundry to the basement and fell down the stairs. Yeah I bet." He said angrily. "Peter remarried and the woman just had a baby girl. He also has a son,"

"Xavier." Sam finished for him.

"Yeah from his first marriage. The new Mrs. Young makes number four. The first divorced him and is remarried. Looks like it was pretty messy. Number two and three died in quote unquote accidents. Now either this guy is really unlucky, or-" Spike read.

"He's an abusive prick." Wordy growled. He thought of Shel and what she went through with her ex.

"Yeah." Spike bit his lip. He could hear someone breathing fast and he knew who it was.

Sam threw the ID and passport into the box and chucked it into the closet. "She's in big trouble." He growled. "Ok. Spike, see if you can find any security footage with them leaving. He got her out somehow." He looked at Greg. "Also see if there's anything else in her or his background that would tell us where he might go. And check Xavier's too. Boss-"

"I'll call the ex, she if she can give us any more info." Greg nodded and walked from the room. "Lew, see if you can help Spike. Wordy." He looked at Wordy and tipped his head towards Sam. Wordy nodded and went into the bedroom, his meaning understood. Help him and keep him calm.

Wordy went to Sam and put a hand on his shoulder. "You ok?"

Sam looked at him, hurt, fear and a myriad of emotions in his eyes. "She didn't trust me."

"Shel was the same way. There's a lot of guilt and shame associated with this. She was trying to protect you." Wordy explained.

"It's just-" Sam shook his head. It made sense, but it didn't.

"We'll find her." Jules smiled reassuringly up at him.

Sam looked in her eyes and saw the confidence and warmth. God he missed seeing those eyes look at him like she had not so long ago. He wanted to pull her to him and feel her strength flow through him, but he knew he couldn't. She made him feel like he could face anything.

I miss you too, she thought. No. You're just friends dammit. I can't lose the team. She felt the familiar push and pull she had experienced since they broke up. You're looking for his girlfriend for god's sake. She turned to the bed then looked at Wordy.

Wordy nodded, moved into position, leaned down and picked up one end of the mattress while she picked up her side, revealing five covered boxes. They squatted down, examined them and carefully opened them. There were skeins of yarn in each one, sorted by color and there was a piece of paper in each one with a pattern that matched the yarn colors.

Sam looked up at them. "We should check her studio."

"Copy." Both answered and they left the apartment.

Greg put the phone to his chest and said, "copy." He put the phone back to his ear and looked at Ed who was going through the information with Lew and Spike.

Sam nodded at the officer at the door as they left and said, "make sure this gets secured before everyone leaves." The officer nodded back.

They went to the SUVs and raced the few blocks to her studio. They called her landlord on the way, he was meeting them there. They reached the studio and found a worried looking woman peering into the windows, he hands cupping her face.

"Ma'am?" Sam strode up to her.

"Yes?" She turned and saw the blonde haired blue eyed man in a tactical uniform. Was this her Sam? Damn, she was right he is hot. "Are you Sam?"

"Yes." He looked at her questioningly. Wordy and Jules stood right behind him.

"Wow. You are even cuter than she said." The woman looked him up and down.

"Do you know Mikaela Greene?" Jules bristled. Yes he's gorgeous, we know, she thought irritably.

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Yes. I'm Karen Kowaltzki. We were supposed to meet for lunch after her race with you."

"Karen Kowaltzki." Sam recognized the name. "The woman that owes Mikaela money for classes."

"Oh. She told you about that huh?" Karen looked down on shame. "Yeah I was going to give her a check today. I fell behind on a few things and, well she's been really cool about it." She looked up at Sam. "She didn't show for lunch so I came here. I was just going to go check her apartment."

"She's not there. She's missing. Can you tell us what you know about her?" Sam asked anxiously.

"Missing?" She said panicked. "Not much. She's pretty tight lipped about her past. She said she moved here from Aylmer but wouldn't tell me why. She did talk about her sister Karen a lot. Said she died when Mikaela was ten. Drowned in a neighbor's pool. Poor girl was still really upset by it. She mentioned a brother too. Xavier." Her eyes flicked to Sam's, full of fear. "Oh god. Is he here? Is that why she's missing?"

"Why? What did she tell you about him?" Sam asked.

Karen swallowed hard. "He, uh." She looked down the street and gasped. She looked at Sam. "I think that's him." She whispered.

Sam darted a glance down the sidewalk and saw a young man with jet black hair walking towards them. "The guy with the black hair?"

Karen turned and put her back to the man. "Yes. She showed me a picture. When she was younger he beat her up and kept her chained in the basement." She held Sam's gaze. "Among other things. She said if he ever came around to call the police."

"Ok." Wordy stepped to Sam's left and kept his eyes down the street. "Come with me. We're going to get in my car for a minute. Calmly walk with me. Don't look back." Wordy put a hand on her shoulder and gently guided her to the side of the car behind them and around the back to the backdoor of the SUV.

At the same time Jules and Sam faced the man approaching them.

The man slowed when he saw them staring. Are those cops, he thought, panicked. He turned and made like he was crossing the street.

Jules looked at Sam and they broke off, Sam started walking towards the man while Jules crossed the street.

Xavier saw the blond turn and start walking towards him. When he saw the badge he panicked. He ran across the street and then down it. He could hear the little woman yelling at him to stop, then the man joined her.

Sam saw his reaction and immediately took off after him. He looked quickly to his right and saw Jules start to run as well. It didn't take long for her to catch up to the man and tackle him. He cringed when he saw her take a boot to the thigh as they struggled. Sam caught up and jumped on the guy pulling his left hand out from under him. Jules pulled his right arm behind and they cuffed him. Sam stood and looked at Jules as she pulled the man to standing. "You ok?" When she nodded he said, "Nice tackle legs." He put his hand up.

She scoffed at his old nickname for her and slapped his hand. He hadn't used it since, yeah, months ago. She looked at him, her eyes filled with regret.

Sam frowned at her reaction and then realized what he'd said. "Oh." He stopped when he remembered the subject with them. He gave her a look that said sorry and she nodded. He grabbed the subject's arm and they walked back to the front of the studio. "Who are you?" He asked angrily.

"No one you wanna trifle with boy." Xavier drawled, venom in his words. His accent was so thick that when he said boy it sounded like boa.

"Come on. Cut the macho crap." Jules got in his face. "Who are you and why did you run?"

Xavier sneered at her but was cut off when Karen and Wordy approached.

"Yes. That's him. See?" Karen handed Sam a picture of the man in front of them with 'Xavier Young. Call 911' written in black marker at the bottom.

"What do you have to say now, Xavier?" Jules put the emphasis on his name and narrowed her eyes at him.


	10. Chapter 10

"I-, uh, that bitch." Xavier growled.

Sam's eyes flared and he stepped forward, but Wordy got between them.

"Easy Sam." Wordy put a hand on Sam's chest. Sam was looking past him shooting daggers at Xavier, his mouth a thin line.

Jules pulled Xavier's arm and moved him away. "Start talking. What are you doing here and where is Mikaela?"

Xavier gave her a look filled with pain and grief. "Mikaela is dead."

"I'm sorry. I meant Karen." Jules sighed.

"I just wanted to visit her." Xavier grumbled.

"Looks like she doesn't want to visit you." Jules held up the photo. "Where is she?" She glared at him.

Wordy kept his hand on Sam's chest until Sam looked at him. "Jules will get it out of him." When Sam let some of the tension in his body go, Wordy tapped him on the chest. "Karen, anything else you can tell us? Was she acting different in the last couple days? Anything that seemed off."

Karen threw a look towards Jules and the dark haired man and thought. "No I don't think so. She never let me come to her apartment. I always thought that was weird. She was-" she stole a look at Sam and shrugged, "happy."

Sam nodded. He had enjoyed the last couple weeks with Mikaela. Why was it something always got in the way of his happiness? He had something good going and it was taken away. Sara, Matt, Jules, just to name a few.

"Ok thank you." Wordy said dismissing her. "We'll call you if we need any more information."

"Ok. I really hope she's ok." Karen said with tears in her eyes, turned and went to her car.

"He was supposed to meet me at the hotel an hour ago. I don't know where he is!" Xavier said fearfully when Jules got in his face.

"Your hotel. Let's go." She turned him and they headed to the SUV, followed by Wordy and Sam. She put Xavier in the back with Wordy and then got in the passenger seat, while Sam climbed in the driver's side.

Sam pulled out of their parking spot and started down the road. "Which hotel?"

"The Hyatt on Dexter." Xavier sat glumly looking out the window. If his father found out that he got picked up by the cops he would kill him.

"Ok Xavier. Why is your father here? Why come all this way to find Karen?" Jules looked back at Xavier.

"No one gets away from Daddy. Not unless-" Xavier clammed up. He couldn't betray his father's trust.

"Unless they're dead." Wordy looked at Xavier.

"Damn bitch never did learn her place." Xavier grumbled.

"Oh yeah? Where is that exactly?" Jules frowned.

"Barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen or cleanin' the house. A woman got responsibilities to her menfolk." Xavier growled at her.

"Yeah, well you make sure to tell your dad and all your like minded buddies that it was a woman cop that ran your butt down. Tackled and cuffed, no fuss no muss." Jules smiled and looked at Sam. He laughed and put up a fist. She bumped fists with him and Wordy.

Xavier was quietly stewing and looking out the window.

After a minute, Wordy leaned over and said quietly, "come on man. It's over. Look around. You're sitting in a cop car in cuffs."

Xavier looked at Wordy with disgust in his eyes.

"The ex said that Peter was extremely angry and dominating. It started when they were dating. She got pregnant and was forced to marry him. Typical abuser behaviors." Greg said into his headset. "He took it too far while she was pregnant and she ended up in the hospital. The police got involved, but she never pressed charges. She finally left him when Xavier was two, but he kept the boy. She barely had visitation rights. She ended up moving to Ohio and he moved on. She hasn't heard from him in 25 years and wants to keep it that way."

"Don't blame her." Jules said in hushed tones. She looked at Sam. He was clenching and unclenching his jaw. She was about to say something when Xavier spoke.

"So blondie, you her new boy toy?" Xavier asked. When he saw Sam clench his jaw he continued, "yeah. You are aren't you? You hit that? She's good ain't she?" He leaned forward and taunted.

Wordy put a hand on Xavier's shoulder and pulled him back. He grabbed the seat belt and tightened it. "You have the right to remain silent sir. I suggest you exercise it."

##### building in Business District, 1400 hrs. #####

"Whoever owns this office is my kind of guy." Peter drawled. He was dripping with sweat and trying to catch his breath. He sat back against the desk and looked at Karen's bare bottom in front of him. He'd found a pair of cuffs on the desk and had liked those better than the tape.

Karen was laying with her upper body on the couch and her face buried in the cushions. She was keeping the tears at bay, but just barely. She had used the cushions to stifle her cries as he violated her. It angered him, but she was glad. She had accepted that it was going to happen. He would try to claim her, make her his like he had for all those years. She had the bruises to prove that she had fought him. The worst was the one forming on the side of her head where he had punched and slapped her repeatedly. At least it had stopped bleeding.

She needed to sit up, her back was killing her where he'd kicked her. She turned her head and saw that he was staring at her ass. Disgusting, fucking pig, she thought. She picked her torso up and sat back on her legs.

Peter watched her sit up and was filled with rage. He moved forward pushed her to the carpet. She fell to her side and lay still. "I didn't say you could get up, whore!" He started punching her in various locations, but it was the one to the side of her face that made her go limp.

Karen pulled her legs in, trying to protect herself, but it didn't matter. Blow after blow landed on her side, her leg, arm. Sam, she thought. Don't come. This is it. He's going to kill me and I don't want you to see. I deserve it. I shouldn't have run. I'm sorry I involved you. I should've known. I'm sorry. When the blackness cane she welcomed it. I hope this is it. Momma and Mikaela, I'm coming.

Peter stood and went to the bathroom to clean up. He washed the blood from his knuckles and flexed his hand. Damn, it was sore. As he dried his hand carefully he thought, I need to lay down for awhile. Wore myself out on that whore. He went back to the room, duct taped her feet together, then laid on the couch and was instantly asleep.

##### The Hyatt Hotel, 1430 hrs #####

Sam threw the bedding down and ran a hand through his hair. "Spike, anything on the traffic cams in the area of her apartment?"

Spike grimaced. "Yeah. Uh, I got a good angle of the alleyway. She, um."

Wordy put a hand on Sam's shoulder.

"It's ok Spike. What can you see?" Greg said as he watched the footage. He hoped Wordy and Jules would be able to keep Sam calm. Ed was standing on the other side of Spike and had averted his eyes when he saw the limp arm and leg fall into the dumpster from the mass of blankets. Lew sat in the other chair looking anywhere but at the screen.

"She went down the garbage chute and landed in the dumpster in the alleyway. An officer walked right by." Spike took a gulp of air and Ed put a hand on his shoulder. "He grabbed her and walked to the back of the building. He was out of range of the camera for a few minutes, but I'm assuming that's when he assaulted the officer that was back there.

Luckily he's ok. I did get his license plate though. I got Winnie to put out an APB for it. It's a rental which he got five days ago, used his name. I was able to track him to the business district, but lost him around 10th street."

"Good work Spike. Let's load up." Ed said angrily.

Sam looked at Wordy. He'd put her down the garbage chute? He couldn't keep the rage from his eyes.

"Come on." Wordy nodded to the door and walked out, followed by Jules and Sam.

Ed couldn't get the image of the falling body out of his mind. Was Young trying to ditch the body or was she just unconscious? He climbed into the passenger seat next to Greg and looked at him. They both turned their headsets off. "Sam's seriously compromised on this one. I don't think we should let him in there."

"He's not going to go along with it. It's his girlfriend Eddie." Greg looked at him. He understood Ed's reservations, he was worried too. What if she was dead? What if she wasn't? With Young's history, he could be doing a whole slew of unthinkable things. This was going to fucking hurt, he thought.

"Exactly. Who knows what shape she'll be in." Ed said angrily.

"We won't be able to keep him in the truck. He's going to want to be there for her. Well put him on entry, but he's last in. Have Lew stay with him. He keeps Sam back until we know what we're dealing with. " Greg looked at his friend, his heart pounding.

Ed thought about it. His need to protect Sam from the coming onslaught of pain was overwhelming. He wanted to send Sam back to the barn if he was being honest. Or send him to the hospital to wait for her there, but he knew Greg was right. He nodded. "Ok. I'll put Jules on Sierra." He reached down and turned his radio back on. "Sam, what's your ETA?"

Sam looked out the window. Wordy had tried to get him to talk, but he couldn't. The what ifs were killing him. He knew Young's history, they had all heard it. Who knew what he was doing to her. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to think about it.

"We're ten minutes out." Wordy looked at Sam and answered for him. He could see that Sam was trying struggling to hold it together. He looked in the rearview at Jules and could see his concern echoed in her eyes.

"Where would he go Xavier?" Jules asked, turning to him.

Xavier sighed. He knew he was fucked, but maybe if he helped he could cut a deal. "Somewhere nice and quiet like. Where he wouldn't be disturbed."

"Spike, I need you to search for any empty buildings in the area. For sale, lease or set to be demolished." Jules said.

"Copy. Pulling up to 10th Street and setting up command." Spike pulled over, jumped out and ran to the back of the truck.

"We're going to start from 10th and go east five blocks, Wordy, you go west. We'll have the PD go north and south. We'll expand further if we need to, but he's here somewhere. Once Spike finds any empty buildings we'll start searching them one by one. We're looking for a dark green Subaru Impreza, license plate Romeo Echo Alpha 259." Ed looked out the side window at every green car they came to.

"Copy." Wordy answered.


	11. Chapter 11

##### building in Business Disctrict, 1500 hrs #####

Karen winced as she tried to open her eyes. Her head was swimming. She felt her hands cuffed behind her back and tried to move her feet but they were stuck together. She looked down. Duct tape. Perfect. She hazarded a glance up and saw that Peter was lying with his back to her, snoring softly. Thank god for small favors, she thought. She pulled her legs to her chest and bit her lip to keep from letting out a groan. She slipped the cuffs to the front and scooted herself along the carpet to the window.

She put her hands on the sill and used it to pull herself up. She bit her lip again and looked out the window. There was a young woman pushing a baby carriage on the other side of the street. She looked back at Peter before she raised her arms with a wince and started waving them. Oh please see me, she thought as tears slipped down her face. By some miracle, the woman looked up and she mouthed "help" and held up her handcuffed hands. She put her hands up and made one to look like a phone she put to her ear. "Help" she mouthed again.

The woman put a hand to her mouth as she looked at the naked and badly beaten woman standing in the window desperately asking for her help. She nodded and pulled out her phone and dialed 911. As she was talking to the operator, she saw the woman look behind her and then disappear. "Ok." She said to the operator who told her to hang on, she was going to be patched through to someone.

"Go ahead Winnie." Greg waited a moment then said, "Mrs. Tally? This is Greg Parker from the Strategic Response Unit. You said you saw a naked woman in a window asking for help?"

"Yes. I'm across the street. She appeared in the window. Her hands are handcuffed and she was naked. She asked me to call for help. She-" Mrs. Tally swallowed hard and looked down at her sleeping daughter. "She was really beat up. One side of her face was swollen and black and blue. Please, you have to help her."

"We will. What street and what building?" Greg asked.

"10th and Brown. It's number 1245, it's been empty for awhile. I walk by here every day." She gasped and looked up. "Oh god."

"Mrs. Tally?" Greg looked at Ed, the call was patched into their headsets and they could hear the muffled screaming in the background. "What floor is she on?"

"Oh god. She's screaming! Please hurry!" Mrs. Tally looked up at the building and instinctively moved her daughter next to the building she stood in front of and moved to stand in front of the carriage.

"We're almost there. Stay on the line. What floor?" Greg looked out the windshield and at the building numbers. "There Ed! On the right!"

"I see you. Second floor." She waved to the balding man as he got out of the black SUV.

Greg ran to the woman on the phone. "Wordy? Where are you?"

"Almost there. Coming up the street."

Greg saw the SUV approaching and looked at the woman. "Copy. Mrs. Tally?" When the woman nodded he continued, "did you see her again?" Her response was drowned out by a gunshot.

##### inside building in Business District, five minutes ago #####

Karen gasped when she heard the couch creak and looked back. Peter had rolled to his back. Shit. She slowly and painfully got to her knees and crawled forward to where she was laying. She looked up in time to see Peter's dirt brown eyes staring at her.

"Who told you you could move around girl?" Peter sat up and used his big foot to kick her to her side. "You don't move unless I give you permission!"

He kicked her hard in the stomach making her vomit all over the floor. "You better get up and clean that shit up. So disgusting!" He spat at her.

When she didn't move fast enough, he pulled his pocket knife from his back pocket. He loved the fear in her eyes as he advanced on her, especially when she screamed. He smiled as he grabbed her hair and ran the knife from her face to her neck and down to her breasts. When she tried to pull back he gave her a broken and rotted toothy grin. He lifted the knife and slid it between her feet, cutting the tape.

Karen waited. This was it. It was too late. She watched as he slid the knife lower and finally to her feet. She looked at him in surprise when he cut her feet free. She didn't waste any time and kicked him right in his tented pants. He dropped the knife and grabbed his privates. As she stood she kicked him in the jaw hard. She grabbed for the door handle and heard the click of his gun cocking. She looked back at him.

"You fucking bitch!" He groaned. He held his gun shakily, pointing at her head. He pulled the trigger just as she opened the door and stepped back. The bullet hit the door frame and ricocheted into the open office area.

Karen ducked behind the door and when she realized she wasn't shot she hurried around the door and out into the open area when she heard the second shot. She fell to the floor, he right calf on fire from the bullet that ripped through it. She screamed again. Oh god. Oh someone help me.

##### outside building in Business District #####

"Active shooter!" Ed yelled. He looked at the team assembled before him. "Wordy, and I are alpha, Sam, Boss and Lew bravo. Jules, get across the street, you're Sierra One. Let's move!"

They walked towards the building and Ed looked at Lew before they moved to the rear of the building. "Keep him back." He said quietly and simply.

Lew nodded in understanding. Keep Sam out until they can determine the situation.

Alpha team moved to the front door of the building and waited. Bravo team reached the back door Peter had used and cleared the car. They moved up the steps and Lew tried the door. Open. "Bravo at the back door." He whispered. "Moving in." They moved forward and started to clear the bottom floor when Sam stopped at the stairs, looking up. He could hear a man's angry voice.

"We need to go up." Sam said urgently.

Greg looked back at him and shook his head. He signaled Sam to follow them. They needed to clear the bottom floor.

"Copy. Alpha moving in front. We'll clear upstairs. Sierra?" Ed said. They kicked the door in and started clearing the rooms downstairs.

"Almost there." Jules said as she ran up the last set of stairs to the roof. She opened the door and ran for the edge of the building. She set up the remi and looked through the scope. "Subject has a gun pointed at Mik- Karen. He's in the office and she is in a larger area. She has a gunshot wound to the leg. Wait, he's getting up, walking towards her. The gun is down."

Ed and Wordy moved up the front steps, keeping their guns at the ready. They got to the top of the stairs and he put a hand on the knob. "Jules, you have Scorpio if he raises that gun again." He looked back at Wordy who nodded. They opened the door and charged into the room. "Freeze! SRU! Put the gun down!" Ed yelled. They moved to their right past the cubicles and stood looking at Pete and the naked Karen.

"This don't concern you lawman." Pete drawled as he looked menacingly at Karen.

Karen froze when she heard Ed's voice. She closed her eyes and put her forehead on the carpet. A mix of, oh thank god and oh please no ran through her head. She didn't want them to see her like this, but she didn't want to die either. Part of her wanted to die, she couldn't deny that. She put an arm up, folded at her side to help cover herself.

Sam looked up and ran for the back stairs. They'd just cleared the last office downstairs. Greg followed and got ahead of Sam on the stairs. Lew ran around to the other side and was next to Sam on the stairs in a flash.

"Hold on." Lew said putting a hand on Sam's shoulder. Greg was at the door, his hand on the handle when Sam and Lew reached him. Lew moved ahead of Sam, much to his frustration, and they went silently through the door.

"Mr. Young." Greg said as the three walked into the room. "What you're doing, it does concern us sir. We can't let you hurt that woman." Greg moved to the other side of the cubicles so he was face to face with the man. He put a hand out, signaling to Lew and Sam to stay back.

Sam frowned and gritted his teeth.

"Easy Sam." Lew whispered.

"This poor excuse for a woman?" Peter laughed derisively. "She ain't nuthin'."

"So how do we end this Peter? What do you want?" Greg asked, putting his gun down on the top of the cubicle divider, his hands up.

"Get out. That's what I want. This is between her and I." He pointed the gun at himself and then back at Karen.

"I'm sorry sir. I can't do that." Greg shook his head. "Just put the gun down and let's talk about this. What brought us here today?"

"What're you some woman dressed as a man? I don't wanna talk about my feelings. Get. Out." He looked menacingly at Greg.

"No. I just want to know why we're here." Greg shrugged.

"Her. She is why we're here. Once she's gone we can all go back to our lives." Peter looked at Sam. "You should be thanking me. I saved you from having to deal with this slut. You know, it was fun getting, reacquainted." He said leering at Karen's naked body.

Ed glanced at Sam and saw the pure hatred and rage on his face. He looked back at his target.

Sam closed his eyes. Close it off, push it away. He's only saying that to get a rise out of you.

"Maybe I should take her back to Texas with me. Save you the trouble. Or-" he looked down at Karen and cocked the gun.

"Scorpio." Greg said and watched the shot pierce Pete's brain stem, his body falling forward onto Karen, the gun falling off to the side.

Karen screamed and felt Pete's blood start to drip on her. She screamed, even when the body was pulled off of her and a comforting hand was placed on her back.

Ed went to Pete and pulled his body from Karen's screaming body. He secured the gun and nodded to Jules through the window. "Get EMS up here right now." He said into his headset.

Wordy knelt next to Karen and pulled a pressure bandage from his kit. He put a hand on her back, but removed it when she pulled away. "Hold on. EMS is coming. Just lay still. I'm going to put this bandage on your leg." Wordy looked up at Ed. "Find a blanket or something." Ed nodded and disappeared into the office Pete and Karen were just in.

Sam rushed forward, pushing Lew's arm away. He rushed to her side and leaned down next to her face. "Mik, I mean Karen. It's Sam. I'm here."

Mikaela crumpled and started sobbing hysterically. When he tried to put his hand on hers she pulled away. She put her forehead back against the carpet and squeezed her eyes shut. No. He's not here. He doesn't see me. He didn't hear what Pete said. "Let me die." She whispered.

Sam looked up at Wordy who had finished wrapping her leg and was covering her up with the blanket Ed had found in one of the offices. Sam's eyes filled. "No. Honey. You don't mean that."

"Don't call me that." She growled and squeezed her eyes tighter. "Oh god." She sobbed.

Sam sat down hard. He didn't know what to say or do. She wouldn't let him touch her, which he sort of understood. She'd just been through something horrible and had most of her life. She'd had to give up everything so that he could save her, but would she believe she hadn't lost absolutely everything? "I'm here and I'll be here for as long as you need." Sam said to her quietly. The medics ran up and started assessing her.

"Any medical history? On any meds?" The first medic asked Karen as they rolled her to her back. Karen stayed silent and looked at the ceiling.

Wordy pulled the pill bottles from a pocket in his vest and handed them to the medic.

"Thanks." The medic smiled. They worked quickly and got Karen on a backboard, looking guilty when she hissed in pain when they turned her on her side to put the backboard under her.

Spike sat in the truck, listening and crying. He sniffed, pulled the earpiece from his ear and threw it on the table. He put his head in his hands.

Greg heard the sniff and looked at Sam. He had his earpiece out and was standing, waiting until the medics were ready to move Karen. He looked at Lew who was looking around. He'd heard it too. "Spike?" No answer. "Lew, go check on Spike." He looked at Lew across the room, saw him nod and disappear down the stairs.

Lew ran down the stairs and out to the truck. He pulled open the door and rushed inside. He found Spike with his head in his hands, tears streaking down his face. "Spike took his earpiece out. No harm." He looked at his friend and knew that wasn't true. Lew took his earpiece out and turned his unit off.

"Copy." Greg said. He didn't have to wonder why Spike had gone offline. It'd been nearly four months since his abduction, but once in awhile something triggered the horrible memories. The psychologist said that he was able to cope very well. He hoped this time wasn't any different. He knew if anyone could get Spike through it, it would be Lew.

Lew pulled the chair next to Spike and put a hand on his back.

"I am a selfish asshole." Spike said finally.

Lew sighed. "Not you're not buddy."

"Yes. I. Am. I'm in here freaking out when I should be doing something to help Karen." Spike kept his head in his left hand on his head and put his other hand up, palm up.

Lew caught Spike's eye and shook his head. "We've talked about this. It's totally normal for you to have flashbacks sometimes. Believe me, I wish I could unsee what I witnessed up there." Lew's eyes showed understanding and concern. "It'll fade with time. Hopefully for Karen and Sam it will too." When Spike opened his mouth to say something, Lew stopped him. "Don't. You have nothing to be sorry about." He smiled. "What to tell me about it?"

Spike looked at his friend and brother and smiled. He didn't know what he'd ever do without him.

Sam held the back board as he, Ed and the two medics carefully carried Karen down the stairs, put the backboard on the gurney and watched them strap her down. Sam climbed into the ambulance after they got Karen in and looked at Ed before they closed the door.

Ed and Wordy watched the ambulance pull away, their eyes filled with concern. Greg walked up and put a hand on Ed's shoulder. He turned to look at Greg. This is really really bad, his eyes said.

"Come on." Greg tipped his head to the truck. They should check on Spike and Lew. They'd been offline for nearly 15 minutes. SIU had already come and whisked Jules away to interview her so they needed to get to the hospital to be with Sam.

Greg knocked on the door to the back of the truck and smiled when he heard laughing. He knew Lew could help Spike.

Lew went to the door and opened it. He saw the ambulance was gone and concern clouded his eyes. "How are they?"

"Bad and worse." Greg said glumly. When Spike came into view he said, "you ok Spike?"

Spike nodded and gave him a tight lipped smile. "Yeah. We should go."

Lew rode with Spike back to the barn to drop off the truck while Ed, Wordy and Greg headed to the hospital.


	12. Chapter 12

Sam was a mess when the ambulance arrived at the ER. Karen had fought the medic every time he tried to touch her, screaming, cursing and flailing her arms. She wouldn't let him start an IV and wouldn't talk to either of them. She stared at the ceiling or glared at them. She finally turned on her side, groaning in pain and laid with her back to them, hot tears running down her face. "Karen." Sam whispered pleadingly as they backed up to the ER entrance.

For what she knew was the last time, she spoke to him. "You have to let me go now. I don't deserve you."

"Karen, no." Sam said, emotion filling his voice. He put a hand on her arm.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She screamed and flailed her arm, knocking his hand away. "GET AWAY FROM ME! WHY WON'T YOU JUST GO? DON'T TOUCH ME! LEAVE ME ALONE!" She put her arm over her head and sobbed, loudly and uncontrollably.

Ed ran to the ambulance when he heard the screaming. They had arrived a few minutes after the ambulance, but we're shocked to hear Karen screaming at the top of her lungs from inside. He threw open the door to the ambulance while Greg opened the one on his side, and Wordy stood back giving them room to maneuver.

"Oh god! Please just take me! I can't do this anymore!" Karen wailed.

The medic was sitting behind Karen and moved towards the doors. "We need to get her inside NOW." He said quietly and firmly to Ed, Wordy and Greg. "Karen, I'm going to pull you out now and we're going inside. Just stay still."

Karen mumbled something about not caring, while Sam sat stunned in the ambulance.

The medic pulled the bed out and his partner came around and helped him put the legs down. The medic from the back shot his partner a look that said, don't ask.

"Sam?" Greg said watching Sam. He was completely still. His eyes staring at the floor, his pounding pulse could be seen in his neck.

Ed moved forward and put a hand on Sam's arm.

Sam lurched forward, fell into Ed's arms and scrambled to the flower bed by the ER door. He emptied the contents of his stomach and continued to dry heave for several minutes while Ed rubbed his back. He stayed on his hands and knees even after he was done. Everything was swirling around in his head. How could she say that? Why? How can he help her when she won't talk to him? Why did this have to happen to her? He sat back on his legs and started punching the mulch hard and fast, tears falling from his face. He imagined Peter's face in the dirt. He lifted his arm for the fifth time when it was held in a firm grasp.

"Sam." Ed said for the third time. Sam looked at him, tears spilling down his cheeks. Ed pulled Sam to him and sat in the mulch. "I gotcha." Ed's voice waivered.

Wordy and Greg stood a small distance from Sam and Ed, giving them a little privacy. Wordy put up a hand to Lew and Spike when they walked up, looking concerned at the scene in the flower bed. He motioned to them and they stepped further away. "She was screaming when we got here. He's in a real bad way right now. I don't think we should leave either of them alone."

"What are we going to do? We're still on shift for several more hours." Spike asked worriedly.

Greg put a hand up. "Already taken care of, Team Three is on their way in to cover."

Lew and Spike sighed in relief.

Ed sat holding Sam until Sam pulled away and stood suddenly. He wiped his eyes and walked past Greg, Wordy and Lew without a word. Ed stood and joined the others in the physical and emotional sense. They watched their friend and brother stalk to the desk and yell at the nurse. Ed looked at Greg and shook his head. Even though Sam had released some of his emotions, there was still a whole lot more he had just pushed down and put away.

"Oh crap." Spike watched as Sam stormed into the ER, the door swinging quickly behind him. He ran into the waiting room and explained to the nurse why he was going into the ER, then ran through the swinging door. "Sam?" Spike called. He got dirty looks from the nurses. He looked at one of the nurses and said, "where did the blonde go?"

She pointed down the hall, annoyed. Spike thanked her and ran down the small hall, stopping at each door. He found the right one and stopped to watch.

Sam sat in the plastic chair next to the bed and stared at Karen's wrists. The nurse told him they had to use soft restraints on her because she wouldn't calm down enough for them to even give her a sedative. They finally got that on board and the she was sleeping when he'd gone in. The nurse made sure he was a relative and let him stay when he said he was her boyfriend.

They had already done X-rays of the gunshot wound and said they'd be taking her to the OR to fix the shattered bones. She also told him that they had to do a CT of her head and abdomen since she had significant bruising in those areas and couldn't tell them where she hurt. If there was any internal bleeding, that would have to take precedence over her leg.

He leaned forward and tentatively put a hand on hers. He looked at her battered face, covered by an oxygen mask. One side was so swollen and black and blue that her eye was buttoned shut. He wanted to take her in his arms and just hold her until she felt better, but he knew he couldn't. She was stuck in flight mode. He knew exactly how that felt, he'd been there so many times.

He thought back to a few months ago when they had had a horrible day at work and that night Jules just held him and talked softly to him, telling him that everything was going to be ok. He missed that. What are you doing you jerk, he thought angrily and frowned. You're sitting here thinking about Jules when your girlfriend is lying here unconscious. He put his other hand over his mouth and then rubbed his face.

Spike watched Sam's face as he held Karen's hand. He was going through a myriad of emotions, sad, scared, wait, was that love he just saw? Is Sam in love with Karen, he thought. Wow, this is going to be really rough if that's true. He watched Sam's face change to anger. He walked quietly into the room and stood next to Sam.

"They gave her a sedative." Sam said flatly.

"Probably a good idea. She needs to rest." Spike looked down at Sam and tried to read what he was thinking.

Karen stirred, moaned and then her whole body started shaking. Her hands clenched and unclenched and she pulled at the restraints. Her head went back and her eyes rolled in her head.

Sam stood and did what he could to gently restrain her. "Go get the doctor!" He yelled to Spike as alarms started going off.

Spike ran from the room yelling, "doctor! Help! She's having a seizure!"

Several nurses and two doctors ran into the room and pushed Sam out. Sam started to go back in but Spike held onto his arms.

Sam's mind raced as he watched them pushing meds and trying to get the seizure to stop. Suddenly her body stilled and the monitor showed a flat line. They immediately started doing CPR while a nurse ran to get the crash cart.

Spike pulled on Sam's arms gently and said, "come on. We need to let them work."

Sam yanked his arms from Spike's hold and growled, "no. I'm not leaving her."

Spike put a hand on Sam's back and nodded. If it were his girlfriend he wouldn't want to leave either, but he had to try. He jumped when they used the defibrillator on her, especially when her body jumped. He didn't move his body, but he averted his eyes.

When they shocked her for the third time, Sam turned and looked desperately for somewhere to go. He saw a small trash bucket next to the nurses station and dove for it. He dry heaved while Spike had a hand on his back.

One of the nurses stood when he dove for the basket and put her hand on his back, her head by his. When he stopped she pulled on his arms and said, "come on." She pulled him to a curtained area and sat him on a gurney. She put a blood pressure cuff on his arm and took his vitals. She looked down at his bloody and dirty knuckles. She looked at him seriously and said, "stay here."

Sam nodded. His head was swimming. She can't die, he repeated to himself. Leaned forward and put his head in his hands. When the tears started to fall, he felt strong arms pull him up and into a warm embrace.

When the nurse went back, she stopped when she saw the dark haired man comforting the blonde. She waited until they broke apart and went back in. She made the blonde sit back down and started cleaning his knuckles. She had to rinse them several times to get them cleansed then took a close look at them. The bleeding had stopped, they were just scuffed up. She looked at the blonde and said, "I'll go check on your girlfriend. Be right back." She left and went into the other room.

"What if-" Sam looked up at Spike.

"Don't. She's fine, ok. She'll be ok." Spike looked him in his eye.

The nurse came back a few minutes later, looking a little sad.

Sam stood when he saw her, his heart sped up. His started breathing in spurts.

The nurse saw his reaction and went to him. "They got her heart started and have taken her to CT. If you want to wait in her room you can, or someone will come out to the waiting room to let you know what's happening when we know." She pushed him down gently. "You should stay seated, you're as pale as a ghost." She hadn't been surprised when she took his vitals to find that his blood pressure and heart rate were high. It was obvious the woman had been through something horrible and he was in shock. She patted the dark haired man's shoulder as she passed, "you can stay with him. I'll bring another chair into the other room for you."

"Thanks," Spike looked at her name tag, "Jennifer."

"You're welcome." She smiled and left.

"Ok buddy, let's get back to the other room." Spike walked the few steps to Sam. Sam nodded and Spike walked him back to Karen's room. The second chair was already there when they got there.

It seemed like a lifetime before the nurse came back in the room, when it reality it was only a half hour. They both looked up when she entered.

She went straight to Sam and knelt in front of him. She put a hand on his and looked into his pain ridden eyes. "Her heart stopped again while she was in the CT. They got it started and took her to the ICU. She has some bleeding in her abdomen from a laceration to the liver, but she's too unstable to take to surgery right now.

They're going to wait for now and see if it stops on it's own. It may which would be best for her right now. If not, they'll have to chance taking her to surgery. I told the ICU I'd send you up." She eyed him. He was definitely overwhelmed. "Do you have any questions?"

"Is she- is she going to die?" Sam asked. He felt so numb, like it was all a bad dream he needed desperately to wake up from.

The nurse took a breath. This was always the hard part. "I don't know. We're going to do everything in our power to keep that from happening. She's in the best hands here."

When Sam didn't say anything, Spike stole a look at him, looks back at the nurse and said, "thank you." After she left, Spike put a hand on Sam's shoulder. He looked so out of it, like he wasn't really there. "Sam. Talk to me."

Sam shook his head. "I can't." He whispered. He couldn't put a voice to the thoughts swirling in his mind. It was all too much. Why did life have to be so cruel? Why Mikaela? He just couldn't think of her as Karen. She was Mikaela to him.

"I know this is hard, really hard and really awful, but please don't push me or the team away." Spike said gently. When Sam turned to him he continued, "the only way to get through this is with your family. Remember what you said to me when I was here all those months ago?" He closed his eyes and could remember it like it was yesterday.

"What if I told you that that guy went through hell and back and is still sitting here today because of amazing friends like you?" He opened his eyes and looked at Sam. He hoped he wasn't pushing him too hard. Spike knew that would make Sam clam up even more, but he looked so lost. Spike had to try. "Remember?"

Sam nodded numbly. "Yeah." He said quietly. He looked away and tried to find the words to express what he was feeling. He let the emotions wash over him in dark churning waves. He looked up and said, "I don't even know-. It's so much to process right now. I don't know if I can. I gotta get up there." Sam pushed it all back down and put it away. It was the only way he knew he could deal with it right now. Sam walked past Spike, but stopped at the door. "I'm sorry, I know that's not what you wanted…"

"It's ok." Spike said and followed him to the stairs. He knew it really wasn't ok. Sam was going to crash soon and it was going to be ugly. The best he could do was be there when it happened.


	13. Chapter 13

##### Toronto General, Karen's ICU room 3 days later #####

Karen blinked, frowned and slowly opened her eyes. She hurt all over, especially her leg and stomach. She took a few breaths and blinked hard to try to clear the cobwebs. What day is it, she thought. She opened her mouth and swallowed several times to try to clear the cotton. She flexed her fingers and tried to lift her hand, but there was something on her wrist. She tried the other one and it was stuck too.

Oh god, was it a dream, she thought, starting to panic. Was he- where is he? She had to get out. She tried to sit up, but she felt things pulling at her. Wait, oxygen mask. Her heart pounding in her ears relented a little and she could har the heart monitor beeping wildly.

A nurse and the doctor rushed in. "Karen. You're ok honey. Lay back." The blonde nurse soothed. "Are you in any pain?"

Karen laid back against the pillows and nodded. A sharp pain stabbed her stomach, she jackknifed in the bed and moaned. That caused her leg to hurt and she yelled. "Agh. Help me." She cried.

"We need to get another CT right now. Give her 10 of morphine and ready to move." The doctor ordered as he probed Karen's stomach, much to her dismay. She groaned and moaned until the nurse pushed the med and she stilled.

Karen could feel the medicine starting to kick in and the blackness starting to envelop her. She looked on either side of the bed. He isn't here, she thought and her heart dropped. Of course he's not here you idiot. Why would he stick around? You're damaged goods. As the void enveloped her she thought, come get me Momma, I'm ready.

The nurse was moving Katen out of the room when Sam was coming back from the cafeteria with food and coffee. "What's going on?" His pulse picked up when he saw the nurse pushing Karen's gurney in a rush.

The doctor walked from the room and nodded at him. "Sam. She woke up and was having a lot of pain in her abdomen. We're going to do a CT and most likely have to take her to surgery. The last CT showed that the bleeding had slowed, but it could've started up again."

"Is she stable enough for surgery?" Sam asked worriedly.

"We may not have a choice. We'll do everything we can for her." The doctor put a hand on Sam's shoulder and smiled reassuringly. Then he turned and walked down the hall.

"Thanks Dr. Miller." Sam called after him. He walked into the room and stood staring at the empty space that was left after her bed was taken out. He kicked at the chair next to the bed and sat in it. She'd woken up alone, he thought angrily. How could he think it'd be ok to go to the cafeteria? Stupid. Selfish idiot. His guilt consumed him. He put his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

Spike and the team had stayed with him through the first night and had started rotating staying with him and Karen until he had angrily told them to go and didn't need a babysitter. That had started a yelling match between he and Ed. Wordy had pulled Ed away and quietly talked to him in the hall. Jules had been the only one that could calm Sam down. He had pulled away when anyone tried to touch him. Jules had walked up to him and pulled him into a hug. He had resisted at first, but she refused to let go and he had finally given in. They stood that way for several minutes until Ed went back in the room, much calmer.

"Sam. I understand how you feel, but you can't get rid of us that easily." Ed's blue eyes were dark with emotion.

Sam had nodded. He had all he could deal with at that moment, he didn't want to fight the team. Deep down he appreciated them immensely and knew he needed them there.

Lew came out of the bathroom not long after Karen was taken from the room. "Oh Sam. I'm so sorry. I left her for just a minute, I couldn't wait-"

"Get. Out." Sam said without looking up.

Lew sighed. Dammit, he thought. He crossed his arms over his chest and simply said, "no."

Sam let it go. He didn't have the energy to fight. He was so exhausted. He hadn't slept much in the last three days, just small naps here and there in the chair. None of the team had been able to convince him to go home. He refused to leave her.

The nurse came back twenty minutes later. She walked to Sam and put a hand on his back. She knelt down and as she did she looked at Lew who was still standing near the bathroom, arms crossed. Her look said, why aren't you helping him. "Sam." She waited until he picked his head up. "They took he to surgery. The bleeding started up again."

"How long do you think it'll take?" Lew asked.

"It depends." She lifted a shoulder. "Probably three or four hours." She looked back at Sam. "Plenty of time for you to go home and take a nap." She said firmly. When Sam started shaking his head vigorously, she put a finger under his chin and tipped his head up to look at her. She gave him a serious look. "I will get the doctor to give you a sedative if you don't go get some sleep right now, do you understand? You are no good to her like this. She needs you to be strong now and to do that you have to take care of yourself."

"But-" Sam started.

"But nothing." She interrupted. She set her mouth in a firm line.

"My house is only five minutes away. I'll give Cheryl my number." Lew pointed to the nurse. "As soon as they're done the surgery she'll call and we'll come back. She's right. You need the rest." Lew walked to Sam and stood in front of him. "Come on."

Sam looked at them both. He wanted to say no and stay in the chair until Karen came back, but he knew they were right. He was no good to her exhausted and out of it. He stood and nodded.

Cheryl put a hand on his back and smiled.

Lew looked at Cheryl and said, "thank you."

She nodded at him. She was glad their plan had worked. She had to make a couple calls, but she was pretty sure she could help him with his other requests. This was her first interaction with Team One and she was very impressed with how they took care of each other. She watched Lew leading Sam to the elevator and smiled. She was glad to help any way she could. Five and a half hours later, Cheryl picked up the phone and called Lew.

Sam and Lew walked into Karen's room fifteen minutes later. Greg was waiting for them when they arrived.

"How is she?" Sam asked looking past Greg and Cheryl to the bed behind them.

"She did well. There was significant bleeding in her liver and they had to remove part of it. One good thing about the liver is that it regenerates so it won't hurt that we took that portion out. The orthopedic surgeon should be able to take her back the operating room in a few days to put the pins and rods in her leg to fix it. It was touch and go for a little while, but she's a fighter." Cheryl looked back at Karen and smiled.

Sam nodded to Cheryl and went to Karen's side. He sat back in his chair next to her bed. He looked at her healing face. Luckily the bruising was starting to fade and her eyes were visible. He leaned next to her ear and said. "Hey Mik. I'm here. I'm so sorry you woke up and I wasn't here. I'm not leaving again."

Greg watched Sam and then looked at Lew. "How long did he sleep?"

"Around four hours. Not a lot, but it shouldn't be an issue." Lew looked at Cheryl and she nodded and smiled. "He hasn't said much. I've tried to draw him into a conversation but he wasn't having it. He's totally closed himself off." Lew gave Greg a concerned look.

Greg nodded. "It's going to take time. He's going to be on leave for a little while so." Greg tipped his head to the side. "We're back on the clock tomorrow. Get some sleep."

"You too Boss." Lew nodded and left.

Greg walked into the room and looked to his left. A bed, made up with comfy pillows and warm blankets sat at the bottom of the bed. He smiled and pulled up a chair next to Sam. "Hey Sam."

Sam looked at Greg. He hadn't heard him come in. He had tunnel vision. He couldn't deny it. His only concern right now was Mikaela. He still couldn't think of her as Karen. He'd almost lost her so many times now. "Why?" He said roughly. He'd barely spoken in three days, but it was emotion that made him hoarse. Greg looked at him, waiting. "Why does it have to be so hard? Why can't we just be happy and have a great life? What is the purpose of all this pain? It doesn't make sense."

"It doesn't make sense. None of it does. I really wish I had an answer for you Sam. This sucks. Life sucks sometimes." Greg shook his head. "But, it's the people who help you and are there for you during those times that matter. Maybe it's even the things you learn from times like this that help make you who you are. Help to shape the person you become. I want you to do something for me Sam."

Sam listened and was shaking his head, but it wasn't in disagreement, it was almost like acceptance. He knew what Greg was saying was true. Everything that happened to him as a kid, in JTF2, even now in the SRU, all of it has shaped who he is and everything that Mikaela has been through has shaped her too. Hopefully he could help her see that it she can come out stronger because of it, not weaker. "What?" He asked simply.

"I need you to talk to someone. I can call Dr. Lauria if you want. I know you've seen her a few times. This isn't just for you, I need you to do this for Karen too. You've barely spoken to anyone for days, hardly eaten or slept. You need to find a way to try to deal with all of this, for your sake and for hers. She's gonna need you Sam. Something like this is not going to go away easily. She's going to need a lot of support." Greg looked at Karen and back at Sam, his heart on his sleeve.

Sam thought about it for a moment and nodded. "Call Dr. Lauria." He said finally. He looked at the end of the bed and noticed the cot. Are those my pillows, he thought. The bed looked so comfortable and inviting. He really hadn't slept that much at Lew's, maybe a couple hours. He had tossed and turned and lain awake thinking about Mikaela and everything that had happened. "Later. I need you to do something for me." Sam said using Greg's words.

"Anything."

"A burger, fries and chocolate shake from Timmy's, please." Sam gave him a half-smile.

"You got it." Greg stood. "Anything else?" When Sam shook his head, Greg turned and left the room. He returned twenty minutes later with two bags of food for them. They ate in silence. After they were done, Sam was swaying in the chair, his eyes drifting closed and his head falling towards his chest until it got too far and he snapped it back up.

Greg got up from his chair and gently coaxed Sam to the cot. After he got him tucked in, he turned off the lights and sat back in his chair. It's be uncomfortable to sleep in, but he needed some sleep before workout in the morning. He'd already told Ed he'd probably miss workout and Ed had understood. They had all been understanding. They missed Samtastic.

Jules had been especially concerned and protective of Sam when it was her turn to sit with them. She had told Greg that she had a few short conversations with Sam, but never repeated what Sam had said. He hadn't asked. He knew Sam would tell him in his own time, or maybe never. Either way would be ok with him. She had kept the nurses from pestering Sam about eating and sleeping, even though she knew he needed it.

Greg wondered for a moment if they were dating again, but quickly dismissed it. He knew they cared for each other and would always be fiercely protective of the other, but they knew what was at stake and he had to trust that they could remain professional. He thought back the last few months since their breakup. He couldn't think of any time when they had acted anything but professional.

He looked up when the nurse came in and gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Hi Cheryl." Greg whispered.

"I know it's not much, but I found this old mattress in one of the storage rooms. It's not very big, but I figured it'd be better than the floor." When he looked at her patient she understood his concern. "She won't wake up until tomorrow. We're keeping her sedated for at least that long to let her heal from the surgery."

"Thanks Cheryl. This is- you're awesome." Greg grinned from ear to ear when she handed him pillows and a blanket she'd grabbed from an unoccupied room.

"You're welcome." Cheryl smiled. "Let me know if you need anything."

"I will." Greg smiled, put the pillows at one end, laid down and pulled the blanket over him. He was asleep in mere minutes.


	14. Chapter 14

##### Toronto General roof, 8 days after rescue #####

Karen rolled the wheelchair to a foot from the edge of the flat roof. Tears were streaming down her face which she had upturned to take in the sun as it beat down on her. Momma, she thought. "Momma. It's too hard. I can't take it. They want me to keep reliving it and all I want to do is forget. I wanna forget Momma." She slipped back into the Texan accent she'd worked so hard to forget. "Please help me forget. I-" she stopped when she heard the door swing open and boots crunched on the asphalt.

She looked behind her and saw five Team One members come through the doorway and spread out. She looked down and saw Wordy and Spike looking up at her, scared and concerned. She sat back in the wheelchair and it rolled back an inch. Oh god. "Please just go. I don't want you here. I don't need you here," She said desperately. It was then that she heard his voice.

"Karen. Please pull back from the edge. We aren't here to hurt you, we just want to help you." Greg said as he and Jules moved closer to her.

"Don't negotiate me Greg. I'm not some poor soul you have to stop from making a grave mistake." Karen said angrily.

"You're not?" Greg asked and they stepped closer. They were three feet from her. Jules got low and hooked Greg onto the nearest solid structure which was a set of pipes, welded together, going from the AC into the building. She hooked on and moved to Karen's left.

"No." Karen turned the chair to the right and looked at Greg. She was facing Lew and Sam who were inching closer to her. "Stop." She said angrily to them. "I don't understand you." She directed her anger at Sam.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, stopping in his tracks.

"Careful Sam. She's directing a lot of anger your way." Greg stepped back and said in a low tone.

Sam stole a look at Greg, then turned back to Karen. "What do you mean you don't understand me?"

##### Toronto General, Room 1185 2 hours earlier #####

Karen was sitting in her wheelchair, looking anywhere but at Sam or Dr. Lauria. She didn't want to do this and couldn't understand why the woman was so insistent that they talk about everything.

She had woken a day and a half after her leg surgery. It was slow and painful, but she had opened her eyes. She was surprised to see Sam sitting in the chair next to the bed watching the news. He looked rested, but very agitated. She looked up at the TV and saw that it was talking about a JTF2 soldier that was wounded on a mission in Afganistan. When they had said the man's name, Corporal Derrick Braddock she understood. He must be a relative, she thought.

Why was he even here, she wondered. He knew what Peter had done to her in the past and again in the office. Why would he want to be with someone so disgusting? Why would he care. Her heart sped up as she watched him pacing, running a hand through his hair and talking on the phone. The monitor betrayed hr and started beeping loudly.

Sam turned, saw that she was awake and said into the phone, "Sir, I have to go. Yes she's awake. I'll tell her. Yes thank you Sir." He had used his military tone when talking to his father, but dropped it when he went to her side. "Hey. Your heart is beating really fast. Try to take slow breaths. I'm going to get Dr. Miller ok?" He left and came back with the doctor.

Doctor Miller examined her and told her everything that they had done in the first four and a half days. He said they would remove the restraints, as long as she promised to talk to the psychiatrist. She had nodded in agreement and the doctor took off the restraints.

She looked at Sam. "Your relative?" She pointed to the screen.

He turned to look at the TV and frowned. She was worried about his cousin? "He's ok. No serious wounds thankfully. How are you?" He looked at her with wonder. Her first words since that horrific day and she asked about him and his family? He had spent quite a few hours with Dr. Lauria the past couple days sorting through his feelings.

Sam had bought a bouquet of roses for Cheryl and a sIx pack of beer for Lew for setting up the cot for him and mattress for anyone else that wanted to "sleepover" as Cheryl called it. He had seen a jealous glint in Jules' eyes when he gave the bouquet to Cheryl, but then Jules had smiled and told him what a sweet guy he was. He loved hearing her say that, but he held himself back from her a little. It was getting confusing for him.

He loved Jules, there was no doubt about that. He would always love her, but he knew that this wasn't the right time for them and it was possible there never would be. He liked Mikaela, but was it love? No, but he thought maybe one day it could grow into it. It would never be the same as his love for Jules. He talked to Dr. Lauria about it. He knew she couldn't ever say anything about what they talked about unless it was detrimental to him being an SRU officer so he was safe. She had told him not to make a decision about he and Mikaela. It was still too early and they needed to do some counseling sessions together first.

Sam had looked at her with surprise and said, "yeah my cousin. The General's brother's son was wounded in action. But how are you? Are you in a lot of pain?"

She had lied and said no, but she knew her pain was emotional. She could barely look at him without wanting to cry. Even then the tears had slipped down her cheek. When he put a hand on hers she changed it into a fist and pulled away. "Please go. I, can't." She choked out.

Sam had left, his head bowed, but he hadn't gone far. He stayed outside the door and gave her some space. He knew she probably needed that more than anything right now. He grabbed his phone and dialed Dr. Lauria to let her know Mikaela was awake. She had told him she'd come in the afternoon.

As they sat forming a circle, Sam wondered for the tenth time if this was such a good idea so soon. He sat forward and put his elbows on his knees. He knew that Mikaela being in a wheelchair already was probably not a good idea, but she had been insistent. She hadn't let him put her in the chair either. He had to get Cheryl and one of the other nurses to get her in the chair. She didn't want any men to touch her.

"Mikaela?" Dr. Lauria asked looking at her steadily.

"Karen. I'm Karen." She said angrily, looking at Sam.

"Sorry, but you're Mik-" Sam said returning her look.

"Well, that isn't me! Ok? She's dead." She sat up in the wheelchair causing a stab of pain in her stomach. She let her breath out and said, "Mikaela died in Texas and that day."

"Why did she die in that day Karen?" Dr. Lauria asked.

"Because, I died in that day. The moment that I called 911, and-" She had her breath for a moment as she tried to keep the tears from coming. She swallowed, but it didn't keep he tears from her voice. "And asked for him to help me. I knew. It would all come out." She sniffed and her lips trembled as she looked at the floor. "That he'd know I'd lied. That he didn't really know me and-" she put her hands over her face.

"And what Karen?" Sam asked. "I'm glad you asked for my help. It kept you alive. You helped me save you."

"For what?" She cried. "Everything is gone. Everything!" She yelled and broke down, sobbing hysterically, her hands covering her face.

"Ok. Sam, we better take a break." Dr. Lauria looked at Sam and tilted her head to the hall. They both stood and went out into the hallway. "She's very fragile right now. I don't want to push her too hard." She sighed as she looked at Karen still sobbing into her hands. "Let's try again tonight after shift, ok?"

Sam looked into the room and nodded. "Yeah, ok." He hated to, but he had to get to work. It was already nearly nine. Dr. Lauria had cleared him for duty yesterday after their second conversation of the day. She said that he seemed to have a good handle on things and would be ok to return. Sam had been warned by Ed and Greg, mostly by Ed's angry yet firm blue eyes, that if they felt he was compromised they would put him in the truck. Sam had agreed. He went in and said goodbye to Karen and told her he'd be back later but she didn't react.

Dr. Lauria walked back into the room and tipped her head down to try to catch Karen's eye but she didn't look up. She sat in her chair and waited.

Karen stopped crying, but left her head in her hands. "I just want to be alone." She said quietly. "Please."

"Ok," Dr. Lauria said cautiously, "but I want you to get back in the bed. You need your rest."

"No. I'm fine right here." Karen shook her head. "I just want to sit here. Look." Karen looked at Dr. Lauria with determination. She put her hands on the wheels and rolled herself to the window. "I'll stay here."

Dr. Lauria stood. She wasn't sure she should leave Karen alone, but Karen was completely shutting herself off. She didn't want to push Karen any more right now. She needed to calm down. "Ok Karen. I'll be back in a little while." She walked out and went down to the cafeteria.

Karen stared out the window. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining. It was a beautiful day to die. She turned and went to the door. She watched the nurses for a few moments then slowly opened the door. She looked down the hall and heard a fast beeping and people running to a room down the hall. She slipped down the hall in the other direction and pushed the button for the elevator frantically. She knew Nancy was going to be in to check on her soon.

Thankfully, the elevator doors opened and Karen wheeled herself in. A few minutes later, she was working to get the door to the roof open. It was metal, opened toward her and auto shut so she had trouble maneuvering the wheelchair and the door.

Nancy walked into Karen's room, looked around and walked back to the nurses station quickly. "Where is Karen Greensby? Did she go for tests?"

Jenna looked up from the computer and frowned. "She's not in there? No tests that I know of."

Nancy frowned back. "She couldn't have gotten far. Call security and have them search the building. She shouldn't be moving around. I'm calling Sam."


	15. Chapter 15

Sam had just finished changing into his uniform when his phone rang. He picked it up and looked at it. The hospital. He hit the talk button. "Hello?"

"Hi Sam, it's Cheryl from the hospital. Uh, Karen isn't in her room. I've got security looking for her but-"

"I'm on my way." Sam said. He finished buttoning his shirt and slammed his locker closed. He ran into the briefing room.

"Sam? Everything ok?" Greg watched Sam approach and saw the fear and concern in his eyes.

Sam stopped just inside the doorway. "Mik- uh Karen is missing. The hospital has security looking for her." He shook his head. "I gotta go."

Greg looked at Ed and stood. "Let's go. We can help look." Everyone stood, went to the lock up and geared up. As they were heading to the SUVs, the klaxon alarm went off.

"Team One, hot call, jumper on the roof of Toronto General." Kira said over the PA system.

Sam got in the passenger seat next to Jules and looked at her, panic filling his eyes.

Jules put a hand on his. She felt the spark but ignored it. "It's going to be ok." She said seriously then followed Greg and Ed in their SUV.

Wordy looked at them from the backseat. He hoped Jules was right. This was going to be messy.

Lew looked at Greg in the rearview at the same time that Ed looked to Greg.

"Sam, you're in the truck with Spike on this one." Ed stated.

Sam clenched his jaw. "No. I may be the only one that can talk her down. Please." The last word was nearly a whisper.

"We don't know for sure it's her. She could've just gone for a test or something. We'll see when we get there." Greg said trying to calm them.

They pulled up to the hospital and could see a few people gathered outside looking up.

Sam looked up as he got out of the car, but he couldn't see anyone up there. At least they weren't close to the edge.

"Wordy, Jules, talk to the witnesses. Sam and Lew, head up and talk to Cheryl. The rest of us will head to the roof." Greg said as they geared up.

Sam and Lew broke off from the group at the ICU floor while Ed, Greg, Wordy and Spike continued to the roof. All of them were on edge. They were sure that this wasn't like one of their usual calls where they'd have to figure out who the subject was and why they were there.

Sam rushed to the nurses desk where Cheryl and Jenna were sitting. "Where is she?" He asked frantically.

"Security hasn't found her, but I just talked to one and he said there was a woman on the roof. They're heading up there now." Cheryl said sadly.

Sam turned and bolted for the elevator.

Lew looked at her and said, "call them. Tell them the SRU is here and to stand down." He raced after Sam and caught him just as the elevator doors were closing. He stuck his arm in the door and winced when it closed on his arm and reopened. He jumped in the elevator and Sam pushed the button for the doors to close.

"You ok?" Sam asked as they waited.

"Yeah. No big deal. Listen," Lew turned to him. "You're going to need to be careful up there. We don't know what set her off and-"

Sam looked at him with sad and knowing eyes. "We had a therapy session with Dr. Lauria this morning. She wouldn't even look at me." He looked away. "I can't let her hurt herself."

"We won't either." Lew said.

Sam was about to answer when they heard Greg's voice through the headset.

"Karen. Please pull back from the edge. We aren't here to hurt you, we just want to help you." Greg said as he and Jules moved closer to her.

"Don't negotiate me Greg. I'm not some poor soul you have to stop from making a grave mistake." Karen said angrily.

"You're not?" Greg asked and they stepped closer. They were three feet from her. Jules got low and hooked Greg onto the nearest solid structure which was a set of pipes, welded together, going from the AC into the building. She hooked on and moved to Karen's left.

Sam and Lew ran through the open door to the roof and slowly started inching towards Karen.

"No." Karen turned the chair to the right and looked at Greg. She saw Lew and Sam inching closer to her. "Stop." She said angrily to them. "I don't understand you." She directed her anger at Sam.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"What do want from me?" Karen asked looking away.

"Is that what this is about Karen?" Greg tried again. Karen turned and glared at him so he backed up. "Ok Sam. I'll be your second. She needs answers and it looks like you're the only one that can give them to her. I'll get Dr. Lauria up here too."

Sam kept his eyes locked with Karen's and nodded. "It's not about what I want right now. You're obviously really upset. Can you tell me why?"

Karen rolled her eyes and backed away from him. She didn't realize it put her closer to Jules. "Don't psychoanalyze me dammit." She looked over the edge of the roof.

"Get her attention back on you." Greg said quietly. "You already have a connection with her, use that."

"Karen, please let me pull you away from the edge." Sam said with concern and inched closer.

"Why?" Karen continued to look over the edge at the ants looking up at her.

"Because I don't want you to go over the edge and I don't think you do either." Sam moved again, he was a foot from her. He looked up and saw that Jules had quietly hitched a line to the wheelchair. He was glad, but he knew it wouldn't keep Karen from falling out of the chair if it went over.

Karen turned in the chair and looked at him. "You don't understand. You couldn't possibly understand how I feel." She said incredulously. Where did he get off, she thought. He didn't even know everything. It wasn't bad enough that Peter beat, molested and raped her for years, but so did his son. If it was possible, he had been worse than his father.

He enjoyed some of the more extreme sexual fantasies and had practiced on her. There was one day that she was tied up and thrown in the rat infested closet for three days without food or water. She had almost died then. If Peter hadn't come home horny and looking for her that afternoon, she wouldn't still be here. He had grudgingly taken her to the hospital when she wouldn't wake up. The police had questioned her, but she was too afraid of Peter and Xavier to say anything.

"I don't understand? I don't-" Sam said angrily and clenched his teeth. "You have _no idea_ what I've been through. If you did, you'd never say that to me, ever."

"Take a breath, Sam." Jules said quietly and soothingly.

Karen put her head in her hands. "I can't do this anymore." She whispered. She looked up at the bright sun and clear blue sky. "I'm tired." She sighed and smiled as she looked at the beautiful day.

"I know you are Karen." Sam agreed. Careful, he thought. She's displaying signs of letting go completely. Don't let her go there.

Karen looked at Sam and sighed. "Thank you for everything. I'm glad I got to know you."

"She's saying goodbye Sam." Greg said quietly. "Guys, any options?"

Jules moved closer. She was a foot away and closing. She looked at Greg letting him know she was their option.

"Karen. Do you know how important you are? I met your friend Karen Kowaltzki. She's really worried about you. She's stopped in to see you a lot in the last week. In fact she's supposed to stop in today. She was extremely happy to hear you're awake." He tipped his head and could see that she was processing what he said. "How do you think she would feel if you died today?"

KK, she thought. That was the nickname Karen had given her. Even though she had been using her sister's name, it confused her to call her friend her real name. She'd been here to visit, she thought. All the time spent laughing together, hanging out after class. She cared"KK." She whispered and let a tear slip.

Sam gave her a half smile. "Is that your nickname for her?"

Mikaela nodded as more tears fell.

"Does she have a nickname for you?"

"I told her I liked Mik." She looked at Sam meaningfully.

Sam nodded. "Yeah." He watched her brush the tears from her eyes and sigh.

"Good job Sam. She's moved to yellow." Greg looked back and saw that Dr. Lauria was in the doorway. He looked at his watch. "Dr. Lauria on scene, 1013 am." He said for the autoscripter. "Hey doc. Sam said you had a therapy session earlier. I know you can't tell me what it was about, but what was her mental state?"

"Shut down. Barely making eye contact, she didn't say more than six sentences. She's suffering from severe PTSD. Looks like Sam is able to get through to her though." She nodded towards Sam and Karen who were talking. They both looked relaxed. Sam glanced her way and nodded slightly.

"Ok. Stand by. She's going to need you after this." Greg said then looked back at Sam and Karen.

"Nicknames mean that someone feels close enough to you to call you something special, something between you. It shows she cares for you Mik." Sam relaxed a little and moved towards her. He was close enough that he could grab her if he needed to.

Karen sniffed and said, "it's nice when you know someone cares. After all these years of being alone."

Sam nodded. "Look around." He looked at Jules and she took three big steps back. He didn't want Karen to see how close Jules was. "See us? We're all here because we care. We want you to stay with us. There's nothing that way." He put an arm towards the open space ahead of them.

Karen looked and saw seven concerned faces looking at her. She looked back at Sam who still had some fear in his eyes. "They'll put me in the mental ward." She sniffed. "I'm not crazy."

Greg looked at Dr. Lauria. "Doc?"

She shook her head. "It's hospital policy after a suicide attempt." She looked at Karen. "Let me see what I can do."

Sam looked at Greg and gave him a slight nod of acknowledgement. "Dr. Lauria is working on that, ok. Can you tell me more about KK? How did you meet?"

Karen blinked slowly and let a smile play on her lips. "I was putting up flyers for the studio. I'd just got it up and running and was advertising classes. She saw me put a flyer up and came over to yell at me for breaking a city ordinance. I- I must've flinched or something when she started yelling because she stopped immediately and asked what I was putting up.

She was so nice. She said she'd talk to her friends about taking classes, word of mouth so I wouldn't get in trouble. KK stayed true to her word." She sniffed and remembered her first class. "That first class she brought 30 people." She laughed. "It was wall to wall people. Barely enough room for everyone to do all the moves. I got almost all of them to sign up for future classes. That was the start. Now I have four classes daily, five times a week and may need to add another one."

"It sounds like you became fast friends." Sam smiled.

"Yeah. She came to classes three days a week. Sometimes she'd stay after and we'd hang out, talk. She's so easy to talk to, but she knew I was hiding things from her."

"We saw her at your studio before we found you. She said you didn't talk about your past much. You gave her the photo of Xavier though, so you must trust her at least a little." Sam put a hand out, palm up. "Why did you give her the photo?"

Karen looked at him. He was right. "I wanted to protect her. If Xavier ever came around looking for me, he wouldn't hesitate to use someone who meant something to me against me. He would've, he- I couldn't let him hurt her." She looked up at him. "Or you. But he did." She looked away and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Karen." Sam said. He squatted down next to her. "Mik. Look at me."


	16. Chapter 16

Mik looked up at Sam, seeing the concern in his eyes.

"I'm right here and I'm ok. Listen, I admit that this past week has been really hard. Not knowing if you were going to be ok, at least physically. To see what he put you through," he put his head down, gripping the armrest hard then looked back up at her, his voice gravelly with emotion, "and to think you spent **years** with that monster." He shook his head.

"And his son." Mik said quietly.

"You both have a lot of feelings and emotions to work through to get past this." Greg said. "It's not going to be easy, but you both have a lot of people that will be here for you if you need us."

They both looked around them, each person nodding to them. Sam already knew that his SRU family would be here for him, but to know they would do the same for Mik was amazing to him. He gave them a warm smile and silent thank you.

Sam kept his hand holding Mik's and stood. "Let's go back inside." He gave her a smile.

"What about the psych ward?" Mik said fearfully.

Sam looked at Greg. "We don't know yet." Getting an idea, Sam said, "would you be ok with having the restraints on?"

Mik thought and said, "yeah I guess that'd be ok." She looked back out at the beautiful day.

Greg nodded and stepped away to talk to Dr. Lauria. He came back a minute later. "The hospital said that they would allow you to remain in your room as long as you have all four restraints on and are only allowed up for the bathroom. It is a stretch of their policy, but they understand the circumstances. You also need to meet with Dr. Lauria twice a day for the next two weeks."

Mik looked up at Sam then down at their hands. She felt the warm, familiar feelings flood her. It seemed like Sam was willing to stand by her although she didn't put much stock in it. She loved it when he held her hand. Without thinking she looked at him and said, "I love you. If you're willing to help me through this then I'm ok with it."

Sam was stunned. She loved him? He didn't dare look up at Jules. He wasn't sure what to say. He couldn't lie to her. He really liked her, but he wasn't quite to love yet. God damn this is complicated, he thought. "I'll be here." He smiled.

Mik smiled to hide the horror that she'd just told Sam she loved him, and in front of everyone, especially in front of Jules. She hadn't meant to just say it like that. Even worse was that he didn't say it back. Maybe it was too soon for him, she thought. They had only been dating three weeks, one of which she was basically unconscious. She would wait as long as it took.

Jules took a breath and held it. She was in love with him already? Her heart did flips until he responded. Part of her was glad that he didn't say it back, but the other part felt bad for Mik. It sucked to say it first and not hear it back. Jules did that with a boyfriend once and it had chased him away.

Sam walked behind Mik's wheelchair and turned her towards the door. He pushed her through the door and into the elevator, avoiding everyone's eyes.

"10:56, subject contained and returned to hospital room, restricted to bed by restraints." Greg said into his headset and watched everyone walk towards him. Jules was not making eye contact. He stood off to the side next to the door and pulled her aside when she reached him. "You ok?"

She watched Spike and Lew head inside, the last of the team. She turned off her headset and waited for Greg to do the same. She blew out a breath. "Yeah, uh, I'm good."

"Jules," Greg looked at her concerned, "the new girlfriend of your ex just told him she loved him for the first time. That has to hurt."

Jules looked down and nodded. "Doesn't feel good." She acknowledged. "But I'm good." She wouldn't break down now. She was on the clock. When she got home she would think about it.

Greg was impressed she was able to keep her professional facade, but it didn't surprise him. "Ok, well, if you need to talk you know where I am." Greg smiled and put an arm on her shoulders.

Jules smiled as they walked to the elevator and joined the group. While Sam wheeled Mik back to her room and waited for the orderly put on the restraints, the rest of Team One returned to the trucks.

Sam pushed off from the doorway and walked to the bed. The orderly told them that a guard would be posted at the door, just in case, and left. He stopped at the bedside and looked at Mik. She was sitting up and watching the TV. "How you doing?"

Mik looked at him and said honestly, "I'm still here. That's good right?"

"Yeah. It's very good." He sat on the edge of the bed. He stiffened when he heard the klaxon alarm and Kira in his headset. He put a finger to his ear and stood. He looked at her. "I've gotta go, but I'll stop by after shift."

Mik smiled and nodded. "Ok." After Sam left and she was alone, Mik thought back to the scene on the roof. She felt embarrassed that the team had to get involved. She knew it was their jobs to stop people from committing suicide, but part of her wished they hadn't stopped her. She looked at the TV and tuned out her thoughts.

She looked down when she felt her stomach getting wet. She pushed the button and was glad to see Cheryl. "I think I'm bleeding."

Cheryl rushed over, pulled back the bloody blankets and lifted up her Johnny. A few of the stitches had broken apart and blood was seeping from her surgical wound. "Here." She took a towel from the bathroom and put it on the wound. "I'll be right back." She came back a few minutes later with some gauze, suture kit and the doctor.

"Hi Karen." Dr. Tallet said as they walked in.

She gave him a half smile. "Mik, please." She liked him. He had started his rotation this morning and had been very nice to her.

The doctor pulled the towel back and saw Mik wince. "Sorry. Well, looks like a couple of your stitches broke. It'll just be a little poke and I'll put a couple stitches in to close this up, ok?" He looked up at her. When she nodded he loaded a syringe with numbing medicine, gave her a couple shots around the area and then started sewing. It didn't take him long to close up the gap. He looked up at Mik and smiled. "Not bad right?"

Mik smiled and shook her head. She was suddenly very tired and laid back against the pillows. Within seconds she was asleep. She didn't hear Dr. Miller tell Cheryl to give her some pain meds nor when they left. She wasn't sure how long she slept, but when she woke it was because she was burning hot. She kicked off the covers, but she was still sweating. Suddenly she felt like she was going to throw up and leaned over the side of bed as best she could and let go. She pushed the button for the nurse.

This time it was Tammy who came in. She saw Mik bent over the side of her bed emptying what little was in her stomach and rushed to her. She grabbed a trash can and caught what she could. She picked up the thermometer and stuck it in Mik's ear, 103.1.

She carefully lifted Mik back into bed and ran from the room. She stopped at the desk. "Call maintenance and tell them we need a clean up in Mik's room. Then page Dr. Tallet. Looks like Mik has an infection." Fifteen minutes and a couple tests later and it was confirmed. They started Mik on heavy antibiotics and waited.

##### Downtown, 8 days after rescue 1830 hrs #####

He waited, impatiently, but he was waiting. He saw the blonde go into his apartment and was going to move in, but he knew he had to be patient. The opportunity would present itself. That's what his dad always taught him. At the thought of his father, he put a hand to his head and let his eyes fill and spill over. He was just taking back his property. The pigs had no right to interfere and even less to kill him.

Xavier nodded to himself, making a decision. He would continue his father's mission in life. He would make every woman he met know that she had a place in this world and that was under the boot of every man. If she didn't know her place he would be sure to teach her. He'd watched his father take that mission and run with it, just like his father before him. It'd been drilled into him before he could walk.

He'd tried to go see the bitch, finish her off for his dad's sake, but there was a guard at the door. He couldn't even get close. That was when he knew, the blonde was his way in.


	17. Chapter 17

Xavier ducked behind a dumpster when he saw a car stop hard in front of the blonde's building, a bald guy got out and ran into the building. He recognized the man from the news as part of the blonde's SWAT team. It'd take a little fitness to catch the two of them off guard. He crossed the street and made his way to the side entrance to the building.

##### Sam's apartment 1730 hrs #####

Sam put a hand over his mouth, feeling the rage and sadness overtake him. It still didn't seem real. How could this have happened? He knew when Spike had mentioned the name of the landmine that there was nothing they could do. He'd felt so helpless. He tried to tell them that there was nothing they could do, but they wouldn't listen. He had felt the same though, they didn't want to lose hope that there was a way. A sudden knock interrupted his thoughts. He went to it and looked through the peep hole. He pulled open the door.

"You can't just disappear like that Sam. We called for you over the comms, your cell. You can't do that." Ed barged in, his voice thick with emotion. He had watched Sam walk away after, but he thought he would come back. After the initial shock, Ed had turned to the team. Wordy was staring at the spot where Lew had been while holding Jules with one arm. She had her face buried her in his chest. Spike's anguished cries had shaken him to the bone.

There wasn't much Greg could do to console Spike. They cried in each other's arms for a long time. Not long after they finally stood and walked to the SUVs, Spike had watched the gurney with the zipped bag go by and put a hand on it, tears falling unchecked. There was no consoling the team who had just lost a brother, teammate and friend. There were no words that could make it ok that Lew was gone.

Ed knew this. He felt the weight of it in his chest. It was hard to breathe, to even speak. He'd told Sophie what happened and couldn't keep the tears from coming. She had told him she would some get him, but he said he had to find Sam. He'd be home later. He pushed it down and drove like a bat out of hell to places he thought Sam would go. The first was his buddy Matt's grave. When he saw that Sam wasn't there he drove to Mik's apartment on the off chance he would go there. He wasn't, so he started driving around to see if maybe Sam went for a run.

While he was driving he got a call from Greg. Winnie told him Sam had shown up at HQ about twenty minutes ago. There had been a huge commotion in the locker room and members of Team Four had run in to find the bench thrown against the lockers and Sam beating his fist against the locker next to Lew's, one hand on his fallen friend's name tag. Jay from Team Four had put a hand on Sam's shoulder and nearly gotten knocked out before Lonnie had grabbed Sam around his arms from behind and held him back. Sam had broken away from them, and walked out not saying a word.

Sam moved back from the door, not looking at Ed. "I'm sorry. I- I couldn't." He shook his head, tears making trails down his cheeks.

"I know." Ed pulled Sam into an embrace. They both cried as they let their grief wash over them. The team would never be the same without Lew. Nothing would be the same without the man they knew as their brother.

After a while, Sam pulled back, cleared his throat and went to the fridge. "Is Spike- where is he?"

"Home. Greg talked to his mom. He's, well you know." Ed watched Sam stare into the fridge. "Come on."

Sam turned to look at him and frowned. "Where?"

##### outside Sam's apartment 1740 hrs #####

Xavier stood by the door listening. He'd heard the conversation and then what he assumed was the two men crying. What wusses, he thought indignantly. Real men don't cry! At least not around other people. Daddy always said, what a man did when he was alone was no one else's business. Xavier had been careful to follow that credo, especially when his father was whipping his butt with the belt. If he cried out he was hit harder. He always waited until it was over and stoically went to his room to cry.

He heard them talk about going somewhere and thought, good I don't have to lure them out. Suddenly the neighbor two doors down stuck his head out of his door.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Mr. Kelty said angrily. He thought he had heard someone walking in the hall and then it stopped. When he didn't hear them leave he got suspicious.

Ed looked towards the door when he heard the yelling outside and opened the door. He couldn't believe his eyes. How did Xavier get out already? He only had time for that one thought because as soon as he opened the door, a fist connected with his face followed by another shortly after. Xavier followed it up with a swift kick to the stomach.

Sam saw Ed fall to the side and rushed forward. He kept his eyes on Ed but looked up when he heard the click of a gun cocking. He met eyes with Xavier and froze. Son of a bitch. Not today of all days. He glanced down at Ed and saw that he was out cold. "I'm just going to check on my friend." Sam put one hand up and reached down with his other to grab Ed's wrist. Good steady pulse, thank god. He knew if he lost another friend today. He didn't want to finish that thought. He looked up at Xavier with anger in his eyes. "How did you get out?" He said through gritted teeth, his hands up.

"Doesn't matter. We're going for a ride. Time to finish this." Xavier waived him out with the gun. He looked out the door and saw that the neighbor was gone. Dammit! The old coot was probably dialing calling the pigs by now, he thought. He had to do something and he couldn't leave Sam unattended. He smiled at Sam.

Mr. Kelty ran back into his apartment when he saw the man kick and punch Ed then pull the gun. He grabbed his phone and dialed 911. He was talking to the operator when he heard banging on his door. "Hurry!" He said as he pushed the talk button. He ran to the bathroom window and stood on the toilet as the banging increased and then he heard wood breaking. he hoped that Ed was ok as he tried desperately to reach the high window and pull himself up.

"Go." Xavier said coolly. He loved that Sam just kicked the door in. It took some persuasion, but he had done it. He watched as Sam moved into the apartment and stopped at the first door on the right. "He's here somewhere. Find him."

"Why? What are you going to do when you find him?" Sam stayed where he was.

Xavier pointed the gun at his head. "Move." He watched as Sam moved into the bedroom and looked around. When he moved out of the room Xavier pointed the gun at the kitchen around the corner to the right.

Sam walked around the corner to the kitchen, hoping Mr. Kelty was not there. He wasn't. He turned to the left and looked around the small living room. He moved forward to the door to the second bedroom. He walked into the storage room and saw boxes piled high in one corner. He hoped that his neighbor was back there. He started to turn when he felt cold metal at the back of his head.

"Look everywhere."

Sam moved forward and bent down, looking around the boxes. He wasn't there. Dammit, he thought. He stood up and looked at Xavier. "He must've left." He shrugged, walked out of the room past him and started towards the door when he heard a click.

"You didn't check the bathroom." Xavier said angrily.

Sam turned to look at him. He walked to the bathroom and swung the door open. Empty, but he could see a shadow behind the door. He moved in, the shower curtain was open. He turned around and shrugged.

Xavier smiled, pointed the gun at the crack in the door and fired.

Mr. Kelty fell forward and into Sam's arms. Sam gasped and caught him, putting him gently on the floor. His hands and shirt was already covered in blood. He looked down at his neighbor's shattered face and knew it was already over. He put two bloody fingers on the man's neck and didn't feel anything. "I'm sorry." Sam whispered and put his hand over Mr. Kelty's eyes, closing them as he slid his hand over the older man's bloody face. He looked up at Xavier, anger and hatred filled his eyes. "Why?"

"Collateral damage." Xavier shrugged. He pointed the gun at Sam and motioned for him to stand. "Just like your buddy in there." He pointed his gun towards Sam's apartment.

"No time." Sam said, thinking fast. He looked at the sink where the phone was sitting. "He probably already called 911."

Xavier looked away, he could hear the sirens in the distance. "Not a word or I come back and finish him off. Let's go." He motioned with the gun for Sam to walk ahead of them. They walked quickly down the hall.

Sam looked through the open door to his apartment. He could see Ed was still unconscious. They walked down the stairs and got into Xavier's car.

Xavier kept the gun pointed at Sam's side while he drove. He already told Sam that if he made a move he would kill him. He stopped the car a couple miles away from the apartment and taped Sam's hands behind his back. That made him feel more secure. He knew it would be hard for Sam to try anything. He put the gun in the door pocket and drove straight to their destination.

##### Inside Sam's apartment 1810 hrs #####

Ed blinked and frowned. His head was pounding. He sat up and put a hand to his jaw. Damn, he thought, Xavier can pack a punch. He looked up suddenly and looked around. No Sam. He was about to call out when an officer appeared at the door.

"Ed?" Officer Hank James put his gun down and looked at his mentor. "What happened?"

"Xavier Greensby. Clocked me and took my teammate Sam. Call the SRU. We have an armed abduction of a police officer."

"Copy." Hank nodded and grabbed his walkie, calling into dispatch. "They'll be here in five." He put a hand out and helped Ed up. He put a hand on his back and steered him towards the couch. "You ok?"

"Yeah." Ed looked to the floor. "Rough day."

"I heard. I'm sorry Ed." Hank looked at him with sympathy. He lost his partner last year in a call gone wrong. He knew how it felt to lose a brother in blue.

Ed looked up at Hank and nodded. "Thanks."

"Hey Hank. You'll want to take a look at this." Larry, Hank's partner put a hand on the door jamb and stuck his head in, then disappeared.

Hank turned to look at Larry then back to Ed. "Be right back."

"I'm coming-" Ed started to stand.

"No." Hank gave him a serious look, waited for him to nod then left the room. If it was his teammate, he didn't want Ed in there. Please don't let it be, he thought. None of us could take it, especially Ed and his team. He had been a rookie when Ed was rising up through the ranks. He'd felt very lucky to spend his first three years learning from the best before Ed moved on to the SRU. Hank hoped one day he'd be able to join that elite group.

He followed Larry into the neighbor's apartment two doors down and to the bathroom. "Damn. Any ID?" He looked at Larry.

"Yeah. Landlord says Hiram Kelty lives here. I showed him one of the photos from the living room, says that's him." Larry showed him the picture of the man smiling with his arm around a beautiful brunette. It matched the face of the man on the floor.

"Ok." Hank walked back to the other apartment.

"Please tell me it wasn't him." Ed said holding his breath. Please no, he thought. I couldn't take it.

"It wasn't." Hank shook his head. He went to Ed, sat on the couch and put a hand on his shoulder when he saw him sigh in relief. "Neighbor two doors down. He made the 911 call."

"Why didn't he come back for me?" Ed asked, frowning.

Hank shrugged. "Must've heard us coming." He looked up when six men in SRU uniforms walked into the apartment.

"Ed?" Rollie walked to Ed who stood when they walked in. "What happened?"

"Armed assailant took Sam. Looks like he shot the neighbor too before he left." Ed walked forward. "We need to find them, right now."

"Ok. Do you know who he was and why he'd take Sam?" Rollie put a hand up to try to calm Ed. They needed Intel and now.

Ed walked past him and his team. "I'll tell you on the way. Let's go."


	18. Chapter 18

Rollie pursed his lips and said, "you heard the man, let's go." They hurried down the stairs and out to the SUVs. "Ed, you ride with me." Rollie indicated the first SUV.

Ed climbed into the front seat while Zane got in the back. "The subject is Xavier Greensby, 23 years old, from Texas." Ed went on to tell them about the incident with Mik, Peter and Xavier. "I can only think of one place he'd want to go, the hospital to see Mik. And he probably took Sam as a way in since there's a guard posted."

Rollie frowned. "Yvan, call the hospital and alert security. Tell them to get Mik moved ASAP, we're five minutes out, that the subject is armed and to use extreme caution if approached." He looked at Ed. "Why is there a security guard at her door? Were you expecting Xavier to make bail?"

Ed shook his head. He didn't really want to tell them about Mik's suicide attempt, but it could be a factor if things go wrong. "Mik attempted suicide earlier today. It was rough, especially for Sam, but he was able to talk her down."

"And then...today." Rollie shook his head. When it rains it fucking pours, he thought. "Wow." His team had been called in a couple hours early and weren't told why until they got to HQ. It had been a shock to everyone. He felt bad for Winnie. She was trying to keep her professional face on, but in between answering calls she kept breaking down. Holleran finally pulled her from the desk and had the new girl, Monica run ops.

Then there was the incident in the locker room with Sam, and his guys Jay and Lonnie. There weren't any hard feelings, they understood how Sam was feeling. It was hard on all of them.

"Yeah. So if things go south you'll have to watch her. She's a wild card and that's never good." Ed sighed.

"Copy that team?" Rollie asked. All five members answered 'copy that'.

"Zane, this is going to be tough to contain. We need a tac plan." Rollie looked in the rearview at his TL.

As they roared down the road to the hospital, Zane and Ed made a plan.

##### Mik's ICU room, 1855 hrs #####

Mik opened her eyes just enough so that she could see the room was completely dark. She reached her hand up as far as the restraint would allow and felt the blankets. There were at least four blankets on top of her and one around her head. She shivered, her bottom lip trembling. She was so cold, it felt like the heat wasn't on her room at all. What the hell was wrong with her?

She looked up at her IV bag and saw it was almost empty. No wonder she had to pee. She felt in the blankets for the call button and pressed it. Cheryl walked in and smiled at her.

"How are you feeling?" Cheryl asked as she walked in and turned on the light above the bed on the wall. She reached under the blankets to take Mik's pulse.

"C-c-cold." Mik's teeth were chattering. "I r-really have to go the b- bathroom."

"Ok, just a sec." She turned, grabbed the bedpan and brought it to the bed. After Mik was done she went into the bathroom to dump it. She had just flushed the toilet when she heard a scuffle outside. She put the bedpan down next to the toilet and ducked under the sink. She slid around the pipe for the sink and pushed herself back into the corner. If someone opened the door to the bathroom she would be concealed behind the door and in the darkness of the corner.

##### Toronto General hospital stairwell, one floor below ICU, 1850 hrs #

Sam walked up the stairs ahead of Xavier. He was glad Xavier had decided to take the tape off his wrists. He'd need his hands free to be able to get the gun. His anger grew as he climbed every step. He had to do this tonight, of all nights. He was about to make the turn on the landing when Xavier stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going? ICU is this floor." Xavier grabbed Sam's arm and pulled him towards the door. He kept a hard grip on Sam's arm as he looked through the glass. There was one nurse at the desk and he could see the guard. "Ok, just like I told you. You say anything but what I told you I will kill everyone on this floor, including you and your girlfriend. Understand?"

Sam gritted his teeth. "Yes." He moved forward and opened the door, pasting a passive expression on his face.

Xavier stuck the gun in his pants pocket and followed Sam through the door. They walked towards the guard at the door.

The nurse at the desk picked up the phone, listened and looked up to see Sam and another man moving towards Mik's door and the guard. "Sam." She frowned and looked at the guard. "We need to move Mik. The police are-"

Xavier stiffened when he heard "police" and grabbed for his gun. The guard pushed Sam against Mik's door and lunged towards Xavier at the same time that Xavier raised the gun with his right hand and squeezed the trigger. The nurse screamed and dropped the phone. She ducked under the desk and crawled away from the shooter taking people with her as she went. The bullet skimmed Sam's upper arm and entered the guard in the chest and exited through his upper back.

Sam caught the guard as he fell, his bad arm under his head, the other around his middle. He put the man gently down on the floor and put a hand over the wound as the guard gasped for breath. He looked up as Xavier moved towards him, pulled him up and pushed him, hard through the door.

"Move." Xavier shoved Sam hard, pushing him through the door and making him lose his balance. He watched as the blonde fell back on his injured arm and hit his head on the floor.

Sam felt his head hit and his eyes blurred. Damn, he thought. He shook his head slightly trying to clear it, but the instant headache from the blow was kicking in. He sat up quickly as Xavier moved towards the bed. He thought maybe his ears were deceiving him. Was Xavier laughing?

Xavier walked towards the bed. The bitch looked perfect. Perfectly helpless. She had blankets piled on her and one around her head. Her face was the hilarious part. Big black, purple and yellow bruises were around her eye on one side. He couldn't help but laugh. He picked up the blanket and laughed harder when he saw the restraints. He leaned down next to her ear. "You always liked the kinky shit." He ran his hand up her arm and under the blankets. She groaned and moved, trying to get away.

"Get away from her." Sam growled, getting unsteadily to his feet. His arm was throbbing. He put a hand on it to stop the bleeding.

##### Toronto General, back stairwell, ICU landing 1855 hrs #####

Ed stood back while Jay pulled open the door and Rollie, Zane, Lonnie and Yvan moved through the door and started to clear the people from the floor. Dr. Miller and Cheryl both refused to leave and were allowed to stay on the other side of the giant nurses station in the middle. Ed took position behind the desk, but near the opening in front of Mik's room.

He had called Greg on the way over. They had decided not to let the team know yet until they knew the full situation. He knew they'd probably be upset he didn't call earlier, but it was a tough decision. He knew they'd rush to the hospital and want to be involved, but they couldn't. They were all emotionally compromised right now. None of them were really thinking straight.

That's why he and Greg decided that since Jules and Sam didn't have family they would stay with he and Greg. He was sure Greg was having a hard time with Jules at the moment. She was a little spitfire and if one of her friends was hurt or needed help she would move hell and high water to do what they needed. It would be tough for Greg to lie to her face, but it would be necessary.

If they had wanted, Team Four could've kept him in the truck, or would've tried. There was no way he was sitting on his ass waiting to find out what happened. If he couldn't be at the door win his gun, this was the next best option. They moved to the doorway, and Rollie noted the blood from the guard who had already been moved by the staff. "Tim, you in position?" Rollie asked through his headset.

Tim leaned into his harness and quietly placed a charge on the window. He leaned back and looked into the room. He could see the subject's hand under the blanket. "In position. Subject has a hand on the victim. We'll need to wait until he moves. The other hos- uh, Sam is about three feet from the subject and five from the door." He waved his hand and caught Sam's attention. He made hand signals to indicate he they were coming in and to get down when he signaled. Sam nodded slightly and looked up at Xavier. "Confirmed via hand signals I will let him know when we move."

"Copy. Copy. Stand by. I'm calling the phone." Rollie said. He grabbed his phone and dialed the number for the room.

Xavier looked at the phone as it rang. He looked at Sam.

"It's for you." Sam said and moved to the side and started sliding towards the bed. Mik looked really sick. She was barely conscious and shivering so bad her teeth were chattering loudly.

Xavier picked up the phone. "Get the fuck outta here or I kill them both."

"This is Roland Cray of the Police Strategic Response Unit. Can you tell me if the other people in the room are ok? There's a lot of blood out here."

"Stupid guard. It woulda been over already if he hadn't interfered." Xavier said angrily.

"Boss, one of the nurses was on the line with HQ when there was a struggle, a shot was fired and the guard was hit. She said she ducked down, but she thinks maybe Sam was hit. They got the guard out but he died on the way to surgery." Jay said as he walked back to them. He had stepped away from the door when Kira called him.

Rollie put a hand on the phone. "Copy" he put the phone back to his ear. "I understand this isn't going the way you want it. Why don't you tell me what you want?" Rollie looked at Ed.

"I want to be LEFT ALONE!" Xavier yelled into the phone and threw it on the floor where it dinged.

"Lonnie, we got eyes?" Rollie walked to the nurses station and stood near Ed.

"30 seconds." Lonnie said as he snaked the camera under the door and pushed it past the bathroom to the open area of the room. "We have eyes."

Jay put a mic on the window slowly so it didn't make a sound and said, "ears too."

"Good work gentlemen." Rollie nodded and walked to Yvan who was holding the portable monitor. They could see Xavier pacing back and forth while Sam slid along the floor until he was nearly to the bed.

When Xavier turned and saw Sam moving he pointed the gun at his head. "Stop!" His hand was shaking. "You don't get to try to protect her. She's mine."

"Let's slow this down Xavier. What made you come up here to Canada?" Sam asked, his hands up.

"I followed my dad. He came up here to get his property. Her." Xavier pointed the gun at Mik.

Sam swallowed. He knew he was in a delicate situation. He didn't want to mention Peter, that would probably set him off. Sam was part of the team that killed his father. Stressor. He was dating Mik, the object of his rage. Stressor. This was going to be a really tough negotiation. "So you've been following his footsteps for awhile now." He hoped Xavier's pride in his father and who he is would be a way in. He wondered if it would really be so horrible if they had to Sierra him. Not really, he decided. His conscious nagged at him. That isn't the way. You aren't that kind of man. He is.


	19. Chapter 19

"A man has to protect his property." Xavier said seriously.

"Ok." Sam said steadily. He stood and put his hands up.

"Don't you believe that?" Xavier asked.

"Sure. But our definition of property is different." Sam nodded and moved forward a little.

"Oh?" Xavier raised an eyebrow. When Sam didn't say anything he eyed him. "Oh I see. You're one of those women lib fellers. Women gots rights, blah blah, blah. Come on man." Xavier rolled his eyes. "You know, back in the day things were simple. The man went to work and the woman stayed home, taking care of the house and kids. They started wearing pants, suddenly they think they're as good as a man."

"I see that frustrates you."

Xavier scowled. "Aren't you frustrated by it? You should be. That pretty little thang on your team? She took a spot away from some man, why? Because she fucked her way to it. It's what they do. Lie, manipulate and fuck to get what they want." He waved the gun.

Sam's temperature rose. "Not her. She worked hard to get where she is."

Xavier raised a brow and scoffed. "Oh. You mean she worked you hard. How was she? I'll bet she-"

Sam growled and lunged at Xavier. His only thought when Xavier was talking about Jules was to shut him up. No one talks about her like that. He grabbed Xavier around the waist and knocked him on the floor.

"Go now." Tollie said as he watched Sam lunge.

When Xavier saw Sam move he raised his gun. He got a shot off as Sam was flying towards him and then they landed on the floor. The gun hit the floor and slid away. Just before he fired, the window blew inward and the door burst open. SRU officers were everywhere.

Tim knelt down next to Sam as Rollie and Yvan covered Jay and Lonnie as they cuffed a screaming Xavier.

"As long as I'm breathing, neither of you will be safe!" Xavier screamed as the two officers pulled him from the room. "NEVER! Do you hear me?"

"Quiet." Jay said, pulling on his arm. Another charge to add to the list, you scumbag he thought.

"Sam." Tim put a hand on Sam's back. He looked at Sam's face and could see his eyes flutter open. "Easy. We're going to get you checked out. Don't move." He looked up and saw Cheryl and Dr. Miller rush in.

Dr. Miller looked at Tim. "Did he hit his head?" When Tim nodded he turned to Cheryl. "Get a c-collar."

"No." Sam grunted. "Hate those things."

"Don't move Sam. If you hit your head we need to check you for a concussion. Where were you hit?"

"Arm and side I think." Sam stayed still. His arm and side were on fire. He wanted to look at Mik, but he knew they would yell at him for moving. I hate hospitals, he thought angrily. Why did this shit keep happening.

Dr. Miller felt along Sam's side and did a visual check. He saw the tear and blood dripping from his right side. He put a hand on it, holding pressure.

Cheryl ran in with gauze, the c-collar and a couple more nurses. Rollie motioned to his team and they left the room. Ed was standing at the door when Rollie walked by and patted his shoulder.

Ed moved into the room but stayed back. He knew he had to give the medical professionals room to do their work. He looked at Mik and noticed blood dripping down the bed. "Doc." He took an uneasy breath and ran forward, lifting the blankets. He put a hand on the wound in her thigh just as Dr. Miller rushed over.

"Mik? Is she ok?" Sam frowned. They'd put the c-collar on him and turned him over onto a backboard. He stared at the ceiling wishing he could get up.

"We're taking care of her Sam. Lie still." Dr. Miller said as he pulled the blankets off all the way to expose the leg wound. I need some four by fours and we need to get her to x-ray." Another nurse ran in with the gauze and wrapped the wound up. Suddenly the heart monitor started beeping wildly. Dr. Miller looked up at the monitor and started yelling instructions to the nurses.

The other nurses and another doctor lifted Sam onto a gurney and rolled him out. Ed walked beside the gurney.

Sam looked up at Ed. "I'm good. Make sure she's ok."

"Copy." Ed looked at the Cheryl. "Let me know how he's doing please." She nodded and he headed back to the room. Once they had Mik stabilized and headed to x-ray Ed sat down in the chair. Jesus what a day, he thought. He put a hand to his head, elbow on his knee. What had they done to deserve this, he thought angrily.

Greg walked into the room and crossed to his friend. "Ed." He said softly. He saw the blood on the floor to his left and then next to Ed where the bed was.

"They took Sam downstairs. Graze to the upper arm and another to the side. Neither looked serious. Mik had a wound to the leg. They took her to x-ray." Ed gave the details in a monotone.

Greg put a hand on his back and kneeled down. "Ok. You doin' ok?"

"After today?" Ed looked up, blue eyes locking with brown. "How can you ask me that Greg?" He shook his head. He felt numb, the events of the day played over and over in his head. He hadn't been able to take his eyes from Lew as his body flew in the air and then again as the second part of the landmine went off. Every time he closed his eyes he saw that. Then Xavier? It was all too much.

"I know Eddie. I know." Greg closed his eyes for a moment. The grief washed over him and he let it come, holding on to his friend.

They sat together in silence until Rollie came in and escorted them out so that crime scene could come in and process the room.

Greg and Ed walked to the ER waiting room and faced the firing squad. Three angry SRU officers stood waiting for them.

"How could you?" Jules said through gritted teeth, trying to keep her emotions in check. Her lip trembled and she bit it and swallowed, willing the tears to go away.

Spike put a hand on her back. "You should've called us." He said angrily. What was Ed thinking? He should at least let us know that he found Sam, he thought.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Wordy added, his hands on his hips.

"I know. I'm sorry, but I also know you guys and you would've put yourselves in harms way to help Sam. None of us are able to deal with this right now." He looked at them and saw understanding on their faces. "I saw Sam's wounds, they didn't look too bad. Mik was hit in the thigh. Don't know about her."

Jules sniffed and walked forward. She gave Ed a hard look and punched him in the arm. Jerk, she thought. She felt a little better, but she had a pang of guilt when she saw the momentary flash of pain in Ed's face.

"Ouch." Ed said quietly. Then, he chuckled. "Anyone else?" He eyed Wordy and Spike who smiled.

"Easy Pacquiao." Spike gave Jules a half smile.

"Pfft. Rousey could kick his ass." Jules scoffed.

"Boxing and UFC, big difference." Ed said incredulously.

"So?" Jules shrugged. "She'd kick his ass at boxing." She said with attitude. Strong chicks rock, she thought.

"What?" Wordy jumped in.

Jules' comment started a heated argument between the five of them. So much so that the didn't see Sam walk into the waiting room.

"Everyone knows Pacquiao would win hands down." Sam said over them although it hurt his head. His comment caused them all to silence and he gave them a lopsided grin.

"Samtastic!" Spike said excitedly and put his arms out. Sam walked into them and they hugged briefly.

"Gently." Sam whispered. He patted Spike's back. When he pulled back he looked Spike in the eye. "You ok?"

Spike shrugged and gave him a knowing look. He stepped back and let everyone else greet Sam. He didn't want to answer that question. He was so very far from ok.

"You ok Sam?" Greg asked concerned.

"Yeah. Ten stitches in the arm and thirty in my side. Bastard got me good. Any word on Mik?" He pursed his lips when they shook their heads.

"Concussion?" Ed questioned seriously.

"Small one."

"Sam?" Ed said it as a warning.

"I'm ok Ed. They gave me some pain meds, but-"

"Yeah we know how that goes." Jules nodded. She asked the question they were all thinking. "Did you sign out AMA?"

Sam gave her an annoyed look. "No. I have my papers right here." He pulled them out of his pocket. "I have to come back in a week to have them removed." He looked at the desk. "Be right back." He turned and walked to the desk.

When Sam ran to the stairs and disappeared, Jules took off at a dead run and followed him. The rest of the group followed her.

Sam ran up the stairs and to Cheryl at the desk. "Cheryl?" He said, emotion choking his voice.

"Sam." Cheryl looked up. Her face fell when she saw him. "I'm sorry."


	20. Chapter 20

"Sam." Cheryl looked up. Her face fell when she saw him. "I'm sorry." She had just gotten off the phone with the desk girl downstairs.

Sam stood staring at Cheryl, shaking his head.

Jules saw his face and ran, skidding to a stop next to him. She put a hand on his shoulder. "Sam?"

"She's- she…oh god." Sam staggered backwards and nearly fell, but Spike and Wordy caught him.

Ed turned and grabbed a chair from the short row of seats by the desk.

Spike and Wordy lowered Sam into the chair, while Cheryl rushed around the desk and kneeled in front of Sam.

"Sam. Listen to me. Look at me." Cheryl looked at his pale face and faraway look. Damn that girl, she thought. She grabbed Sam's chin in her forefinger and thumb. "She's in surgery Sam. Surgery. The bullet broke her pelvis. They had to go in and fix it."

The words penetrated Sam's mind, but he had a hard time understanding. His breath was coming in short pants. He couldn't hear over the rushing in his ears. The girl at the desk said she was dead. Died a few minutes before he asked. How could she die? He tried to focus, but he was lost in a haze. Two in one day, oh god. Suddenly Jules was in front of him. He looked in her familiar eyes and tried to concentrate.

"Sam! Did you hear Cheryl? She's alive. Come on, Sam. Wake up." Jules saw his eyes shift to hers. Ok good, he's starting to come back. She looked at Cheryl. "What the hell did she tell him?" She said accusingly.

"I'm so sorry. We have a Michael Green on this floor that just passed. She must've assumed. I'm so sorry. She called me as soon as Sam ran off. Don't worry, someone will be having a stern discussion with her." Cheryl looked at Sam, she couldn't keep her gaze on those pissed off brown eyes.

"Damn." Jules said and looked up at Sam. "Sam. It's ok. I'm here." Come back to me, she thought.

Sam gazed into those beautiful brown eyes and heard her sexy voice calling him back to the present. What did they say? Something about surgery and Michael Green? "What?"

"She's in surgery Sam. It was a mistaken identity. Michael Green, not Mik." Jules said evenly.

"Not Mik?" Sam frowned. He put his head in his hands, palms on his eyes, rubbing.

"No. Not Mik." Cheryl said and stood. She went to the lounge, got a bottle of water from the fridge, waked back to Sam and handed it to him. His face was red with anger. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault." Sam said angrily. He looked up and saw Greg, Spike and Wordy looking at him with concern. "Where's Ed?"

Greg, Wordy and Spike turned and looked around. Spike and Wordy caught each other's eye and ran for the stairs. Ten minutes later they returned with Ed.

"What happened?" Greg asked. He could see Spike and Wordy were a little worse for wear. Wordy had the beginning of a fat lip and Spike's hair was sticking up in random places. Their clothes were a little disheveled as well.

Ed opened his mouth to say something when Spike put a hand on his shoulder and said, "nothing. We're good." Spike smiled. He wasn't going to tell them how he and Wordy found Ed two inches from the face of the girl at the desk yelling at her. How it took both of them to pull Ed away and even then he got an elbow to Wordy's lip and had Spike in a headlock before Wordy was able to calm him.

Nope, it was between the three of them. He could see from Jules' narrowed eyes that he'd have to tell her later. He had felt a little bad for the girl. She had said she was sorry, it was her first week there and had started to cry. She felt really bad. He had consoled her for a moment before the three of them went upstairs. At least she had stopped crying.

Greg gave them an unbelieving look, but turned towards Sam who was back on his feet. He looked at Cheryl and when she looked at him he tipped his head to the side. She followed him to a few feet from the group. "Is that cot still around?"

"Yes. I'll get it put back in there." Cheryl looked at Sam, her face starting to crack. "I am so sorry."

Greg put a hand on her arm. "It's ok. He'll be ok."

"I hope she is." Cheryl bit her bottom lip. When he looked at her questioningly she said, "three surgeries in eight days. That's a lot for a body to take."

Greg nodded. And losing her, on today of all days would be too much for Sam to take. "Thanks Cheryl." He nodded and returned to the group. "Come on." Greg said to them. He turned and started to walk towards the ICU waiting room. After a few steps he looked back to be sure they were following him. They were. Jules had an arm around Sam's waist, careful of his wound, and Wordy had a hand on his back.

Five hours later, the surgeon walked into the waiting room to find four sleeping people. He went up to the blonde, as that was who the nurse said he should talk to, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Sir."

Sam jolted awake and stared at the surgeon. He blinked and rubbed a hand over his face. As his hand dropped from his face he looked at his watch, 0200. He didn't remember falling asleep, but he knew it had to be some time after Wordy and Ed left around 2200. He looked at his friends and smiled. They were all sound asleep. They were in weird positions, but asleep. He stood and nodded to the surgeon to follow him. When they were across the room at the door they stopped.

"She's in recovery right now and should be moved to her room shortly. Well, her new room." The old surgeon added. "She did really well. We went in and had to fix her pubis, it's one of the bones in the lower part of the pelvis." He paused for a moment, gauging the younger man's reaction. "I had a gynecologist look at her reproductive organs.

Unfortunately the bullet ricocheted off of the pubis when it hit it, went through her uterus and into the ovary." He took a breath. "The gynecologist was able to fix her uterus, but he had to remove the ovary."

Sam took in the information, not sure what to say.

"It will be difficult for her to have children."

"But she still could?"

"Yes. It's possible, but with only one ovary it will be hard. There are hormone therapies, other things to do. First we need to get her through this. Her heart condition makes things a little more delicate, so the next twenty four hours are going to be critical."

"I understand. Thanks doc." Sam nodded. "Where's her room?"

"I'll have the nurse let you know when she's settled in her room." The doctor said. When Sam nodded he turned and left.

Sam turned and saw Jules standing behind him.

Without a word, Jules went to him and pulled him in her arms. She put her head on his chest and reveled in the warmth of him.

Sam put his arms around her and held her tight. He could feel some of the tension leave his body as he let her strength flow through him. He closed his eyes. He couldn't help but love this feeling. The rightness of it as he held her in his arms. She fit perfectly. He thought of Mik and became angry with himself.

How could he be here, waiting to go see his girlfriend and feeling what he was feeling for his ex? The ex that he still loves, that he'll always love. Ah hell, he thought. I don't want to hurt Mik, not after all she's been through. He pulled away, not looking at Jules.

Jules saw his clenched jaw when he pulled away and narrowed her eyes at him. He wouldn't look at her. He looked angry. Angry that they hugged? "Sam?" She reached a hand out to him but he pulled away.

Sam stepped back. He couldn't be near her right now, it was too confusing. He looked at her when she said his name, but he shook his head and pulled further away.

A nurse walked in and straight to the blonde. "Sam? I'm Kim. Cheryl said I'd recognize you by your hair and eyes. She was right." She smiled coyly.

Sam raised a brow and looked away shyly. Jules rolled her eyes behind him. "Is Mik in a room?"

"Yes. I'll show you." Kim said and put a hand out towards the door and he followed her out.

"I'll, we'll wait here." Jules said to his back and turned back to sit between the sleeping Greg and Spike.

Sam looked to the side and nodded. He followed Kim to a room on the opposite side of the floor from Mik's old room. He stopped for a second and looked at the door to her old room. The police tape was still across it, even though everyone was long gone. He knew they'd keep the room sealed off for a few days while they investigated what happened.

It didn't matter, Rollie had it on video and the scripter. It would be an easy conviction. Xavier would be going to jail for a very long time. He wondered if Mik would be able to testify. The nightmare wasn't over yet. He looked away and walked the last few feet to Mik's room. He walked in and was taken aback at her appearance. She had an oxygen mask on and tubes and wires seemed to be coming from everywhere.

Kim followed Sam in and explained what every wire and tube was for. She looked at him with sympathy. He nodded as she pointed to every one, but he was staring at the patient's face. "She'll probably be out for the rest of the night. Before- uh, a couple hours ago she came down with a high grade fever so we have her on high dose antibiotics. We also have her on morphine for the pain." She put a hand on his back. "Do you have any questions?"

Sam shook his head. He sat in the chair next to the bed. He put a hand in the blanket and took her hand.

"Ok." Kim nodded, her voice thick with the emotion she saw in his face. "Uh, Cheryl had the cot brought in. Please try to get some rest ok? I'll be at the desk if you need me."

"Thanks." Sam kept his eyes on Mik.

Forty minutes later, Greg walked into Mik's room. "Hey Sam." He put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "How's she doing?"

"Uh, she's basically sedated." Sam looked at Greg, pain in his eyes. " the doc said they had to remove an ovary. She may not get to have kids."

"Is it for sure?"

"He said it would be difficult, but there are hormone therapies," Sam looked back at Mik.

"So there's hope. So that's what we tell her right? There's a chance." Greg rubbed a hand over his head. "She's been through so much already Sam. This is just one more thing. She's going to need a lot of support. Does she have anyone else? Any other family or friends?"

"Why? You don't think I'm enough?" Sam frowned at him.

"I didn't say that Sam. She's going to need lots of support. It'd be good if she had more than one person to turn to." Greg leaned back in his chair.

"Her friend KK. Karen. She's been in to visit a lot this past week." Sam nodded. He understood what Greg was getting at. She needed a female friend, not just her boyfriend. Sometimes, just sometimes, he hated working with profilers, especially those that knew him. "I'll call her tomorrow."

Greg could see Sam was on to what he what he was saying. This was a rough situation. Sam is her boyfriend, the relationship is new and she definitely has issues with men. Her stepfather and stepbrother mentally and physically abusing her for years, running from them. He wondered, not for the first time, if this relationship would survive this huge trauma. A lot of times, something like this tears people apart. Mik was going to need lots and lots of time. Would Sam wait? Could he? Would Mik be able to get past these deep issues and maintain their relationship?


	21. Chapter 21

##### I Am Yoga studio, downtown Toronto, 3 days after 2nd rescue #####

KK sat at a small folding table just inside the door of the studio. There were at least twenty people in the small studio already, she hated to have to turn people away. This is a charity event after all. She smiled as she saw six familiar faces. "Hey guys. Thanks so much for coming."

"We wouldn't miss it." Jules smiled and handed KK a fifty dollar bill.

KK looked at it. "Is this for all of you? Or?" She was confused since there were six of them and it was $15 per person.

"Nope. Just for me." Jules smiled and stepped aside as Ed, Sophie and Clark stepped forward.

"This is for us." Ed handed her a hundred dollar bill.

"For me." Spike put a fifty down.

"Me." Greg put down a fifty.

"For us." Wordy put a fifty down and turned back to Shelly. They had dropped the kids at her parent's for the morning.

"And me." Sam put a fifty down and smiled up at KK. He saw the tears in her eyes and moved around the end of the table to hug her. "Thanks for setting this up. Mik will be so surprised."

After Sam released her, KK wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at the group in front of her. "Thank you all so much." She put a hand to her mouth and put the money in the lockbox, tears dripping down her cheeks.

"Anything for a friend." Jules gave her a reassuring smile and a hug. She looked at the crowd in the studio and the line still waiting to get in. "This is amazing." She breathed.

"It takes a village." A woman said from behind them.

The group turned to her. "Hi, I'm Jules." Jules stuck her hand out to the beautiful blonde.

"Hi. I'm Kasey. I took, take classes here." She smiled. "We've all been so worried about Mik. She's such a wonderful person. I can't imagine why those two men wanted to hurt her. Some family." She frowned.

"I know. It's tough." Jules turned and looked around. "This should help a little."

"Yeah. It will. We all miss Mik terribly." Kasey looked around. "Looks like we're going to be sardines."

"Yeah." Jules looked out the window at the beautiful sunshine and blue skies. "It was nice to meet you Kasey." Jules smiled at her, turned to the group and motioned for them to follow her outside.

KK greeted and thanked every person as they came in and paid. Nearly everyone gave more than the $15 entry price from the flyer. KK looked at her blackened thumbnail and remembered putting up the flyers all over town. It was pretty ironic that she was putting up flyers for this charity yoga event to benefit Mik and she had yelled at Mik for doing nearly the same when they first met. Mik would get a kick out of that when she told her. She also love how KK missed the nail and but her thumb.

It'd been hard for KK to visit Mik, but she'd been there almost every day. When Mik was first in the hospital, she'd left early every day so she could visit Mik before visiting hours were over. As it was she only got to be there for a few hours. She was glad Sam had been there as much as he was. She could see what Mik saw in him. Sweet, caring, charming and protective of those he cared about.

After all that had happened to Mik, KK was glad that Mik had found such a solid guy. She hoped they would last. After leaving work early last week, her boss had been on her ass to make up the time and her work. She'd gone in early and stayed late the past couple days and was almost caught up. She hoped one more early day tomorrow would do it. She'd told her boss about this event and he'd been extremely understanding about her being in late. She was surprised when he showed up with her ten coworkers. All of them had donated at least $30 each.

She smiled as she looked at them, all grouped together and in their sweats. It was funny to see them out of their dress clothes but it warmed her heart that they would all come. Even Randy Detweiler who had made it clear that she did not like KK. Not since high school when KK had dated Orlando Kowaltzki, Randy's crush. Poor Randy had been nursing her crush for Orlando since graded school, but Orlando never gave her the time of day. Randy still hadn't forgiven KK for marrying him.

KK looked around the very crowded studio and stood up. There was still a line outside the door. She looked down at the money box and sighed. She couldn't let any more people in. They were at capacity already. She'd have to make an announcement. She looked at Orlando and handed him the money box. "We can't fit any more people in here." She said with disappointment. "Put that in the safe, I'll make the announcement." He gave her a kiss and made his way through the people to the office and shut the door.

Just as KK was standing on her chair and going to yell to get everyone's attention, she heard a piercing whistle. She looked and saw Ed and Jules moving through the crowd.

Ed squatted down and Jules climbed on his shoulders. When Ed stood and Jules was above everyone's heads she got their attention. "Hey everyone!" Jules waved to the people in and outside of the studio. "Thank you all so much for coming! It's a beautiful thing you're all doing for Mik. But as you can see we're out of room for all of us to be in this space.

We have an idea. Please follow us and we'll lead you to the new location. If you haven't given your donation yet, KK will be around to collect it." She pointed to KK who waved to them all. Jules put a hand on Ed's head and he moved towards the door. "Follow us!" Jules yelled. She ducked as they went through the door and sat up again. They walked a couple blocks, then turned down a street. Another block and they turned into a park. Ed crouched down and let Jules down from his shoulders. She walked to the gazebo and climbed the stairs. She stood next to a gorgeous brunette in workout gear.

People streamed to the gazebo and stood looking up at Jules and the woman in front of them. People were whispering and mumbling about the woman in the gazebo. Some had already recognized her, others were surprised to see the woman in person. Jules looked at them all and smiled. The last of the people, including KK reached the park.

KK looked at the gazebo and couldn't believe her eyes. No way, she thought. No. Freakin. Way. She made her way through the crowd of forty, collecting donations as she went, to the gazebo. She looked at Jules as she made her way up the steps. "Oh my gosh." She breathed. The woman turned to her and smiled a bright white smile.

"Hi. I'm Camille-"

"Camille Bastille." KK said at the same time in an amazed tone.

Camille smiled. She loved meeting fans, it made her day. "Yes. And you are?"

"Oh, uh, I'm Karen Kowaltzki."

"Oh!" Camille's perfectly shaped brows rose on her flawless ebony skin. "You organized this?"

"Yes." KK said surprised. "How?"

"Camille and I go way back." Jules smiled.

"Do you have to say way? We aren't that old." Camille joked.

"Well twenty years-" Jules shrugged.

"Shh." Camille shushed her and turned back to a stunned Karen. "This is a wonderful thing you're doing for your friend Karen."

"Call me KK, please." She put a hand to her heart. She still couldn't believe that the top yoga instructor in Canada was standing in front of her. Mik would die if she knew! "She's one of the best people I know." She looked meaningfully at Jules who smiled warmly.

Camille smiled and put a hand on Jules arm before she turned to the group in front of her. Jules handed her a microphone and then ushered KK down to the grass. "Hello everyone!" The crowd cheered which brought onlookers from other parts of the park and street. "Thank you all so much for coming to this yoga fundraiser to benefit Mikaela Greene! As some of you may know, I am Camille Bastille, owner/operator of Bastille Yoga.

Now, my friend Jules called me and told me what happened to Mikaela. She also told me that yoga is Mikaela's passion in life. And now that life, that passion is threatened." She heard a bunch of people saying 'yeah'. "This woman lives in your community. And a community is a family. We take care of family, right?" More people joined in and said, 'right!'. So she continued, "and that's why we're here today. We're here to have fun, do some yoga and raise money for Mikaela." The crowd, now fifty strong and growing cheered loudly.

"Mikaela is in the hospital, so you can imagine her bills are enormous. She's also at risk of losing her studio, I Am Yoga just around the block from here." She added the last part for the new people that had joined them and we're still arriving. She saw a local news crew and smiled. "So, are we ready to open our hearts and our pockets and help our community member, our family?" She received enormous cheering and applause. "All right then." Camille started putting them through the warm up. She hadn't expected such a large group, but she was so grateful to be part of it.

An hour later, Camille lead them through the cool down and then stood. She put her hands in front of her and bowed to the crowd, the mic between her hands. "Namaste. Thank you all so much! Can I get KK to come up here for a moment?"

KK ran up the steps, still sweating from the workout. She took the mic from Camille and turned to the crowd. "Thank you all so much for coming! We have raised enough money to cover Mikaela's rent for the studio for three months and some for her to use towards her medical bills. This was an amazing event and I can't wait to tell Mik about it. She will be so honored that the community has done this for her. Thank you!"

The crowd cheered and started to disperse. Jules ran up the steps and hugged Camille. "Thank you so much for coming Camille. It means a lot."

"Mik is going to be so jealous when I tell her I got to meet you." KK gushed. "Thank you for doing this."

"Oh. You're welcome. But I'd like to meet Mik if I can. Hate for anyone to be jealous." Camille smiled.

"Oh." KK's eyebrows nearly flew off her face. "Oh my gosh. Really?" She put her hands out towards Camille.

Camille smiled warmly at KK. "Of course!" She turned to Jules. "You have time to hang a little today? I have a 4:30 flight back home but I was hoping-"

Jules smiled at her friend. She always made time for Camille when she came to town. "Absolutely. We're off shift for a couple days."

"Great! Let's go." Camille turned to KK. "Do you want to ride with us?"

Again, KK nearly lost her eyebrows and answered quickly, "yes!" She thought of her husband as they were walking to the limo. "Oh, I have to lock up the studio and tell my husband!"

Camille smiled. "Ok. We'll wait for you. Ask him to come along."

"Oh my gosh!" KK couldn't contain herself and hugged Camille. Luckily Camille was ok with it and hugged her back.

Jules brought everyone over and they met and talked to Camille while they waited for KK. Everyone complimented Camille on her speech and thanked her for doing the event. Jules smiled at her friend as she humbly accepted the gratitude and praise.

Ten minutes later, everyone had left and the four of them were heading to the hospital in the limo.


	22. Chapter 22

Cheryl's eyes widened when she saw Camille Bastille walk into her ICU. Breathe, she thought. Calm yourself, she's a person like you. Holy shit, Camille Bastille! She couldn't keep the smile from her face. "Uh, hi. I'm Cheryl. Can I help you?"

Jules smiled when she saw Cheryl's face. It was the normal deer in headlights look people got when they first meet Camille. It made her laugh actually because she'd known Camille since they were both eight, riding their bikes around the neighborhood. She was a totally normal person, she just happened to be well known, almost famous in fitness professional circles.

They talked about it often, Camille strived to remain humble, kind, generous and to keep her life as 'normal' as possible. She did it very well. She has three very well-adjusted kids with her accountant husband. They have a moderate house, big enough for the family but not ostentatious. It has a pool, but that was for the kids.

She insisted that they not have a maid or nanny. Camille always said, "if I were incapacitated and couldn't clean my house that's one thing, but I am perfectly capable of running a vacuum or cleaning a toilet. You can be sure my children will know how too and that they will know me and my husband. No stranger can raise my children better than I can." That made Jules admire her more. She hadn't changed much over the years from their days back in the Hat.

Jules walked forward. "Cheryl, this is my friend Camille Bastille. Camille this is Cheryl."

Camille stuck her hand out. "Hi Cheryl. It's nice to meet you. I was hoping I could visit Mikaela Greene. Could you point me to her room?"

Cheryl was taken aback. Then she remembered Jules mentioning that Mik ran a yoga studio. Wow. "Oh sure. You have good timing actually, she just woke up a few hours ago. Although," she looked at Jules with caution, "I do have to tell you that she's in a delicate state mentally. She's been through alot and is trying to deal with it."

Camille put a hand on Cheryl's shoulder. "I understand. Thank you." She followed Cheryl to Mik's room and went inside followed by Jules, KK and Orlando.

Mik looked at the door as it opened. Her face went through a myriad of emotions as she watched the people file in. Holy shit, she thought. Camille Bastille was in her hospital room. She looked back at the news report and then at the group. She turned tear filled eyes to them. "You- you did that for me?"

KK nodded. "Of course we did."

"Why?" Mik choked out.

"Because we care Mik. Did you see all those people? Every person wanted to help you. Some didn't even know you. Yet they reached out to a community member in need." Jules explained.

Mik looked at Camille, tears in her eyes. "You?"

Camille moved to the chair by the bed and sat down. "Yes. Jules called and said a friend needed help. Any friend of Jules' is a friend of mine. Even if Jules hadn't called, a fellow yoga goddess needed help. I can't ignore that." She shook her head, her wooden hoop earrings clattering.

The tears fell freely from Mik's eyes. She tried to lift her hand to wipe them away and was stopped by the restraint. "A perfect stranger."

"Yeah." Camille lifted a shoulder. She looked behind her at Jules, then KK and Orlando. "Could you guys give us a minute?"

Mik looked at the news coverage of the yoga event in the park. It had a video of Camille giving her speech and then short segments about the workout. They said at last 75 people were there. They showed pictures of her studio and a small snapshot of her and KK, naming KK as the organizer. She still couldn't believe that they did all that for her. It amazed her. Was it possible that there were decent people out there? Decent people who had just helped her keep the studio. It was unfathomable.

Jules nodded and herded KK and Orlando out. She told Camille about what happened to Mik, everything. She knew her friend would come just because of that, but she had also mentioned the yoga. If anyone understood what Mik was going through, it was Camille.

Camille leaned forward and waited for Mik to make eye contact. She hadn't questioned the double name, Karen/Mik. She understood, sometimes you had to remake yourself. "I understand what you're going through Mik. More than you know."

Mik looked at her and frowned. "What? Everything I've ever read about you says you've had a perfect life, have a perfect life. Husband, three beautiful kids, nice house."

"Yeah well they don't always report the whole story." Camille looked down. She took a breath. "Listen, I understand about changing your name." She paused, unsure if she should go on. Her past was the past and nothing could come of sharing her story, professionally, personally, but it was not something she shared easily. She could see so much of herself in Mik. Laying in the bed, injured, restrained so she doesn't hurt herself and broken.

The past had come back and shattered Mik into a million pieces and she didn't know if it was possible to put them back together again. Camille knew those feelings, intimately. She made her decision. "My real name, my birth name anyway is Dierdre LaRochelle. I was born in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. There are good and bad parts of any city, but mine was on the bad side. We lived in a tiny four room house. That didn't stop momma and daddy from popping out kids though." She scoffed.

"There were seven of us. There were two beds crammed into one of the rooms, my oldest brother slept on the couch and the baby was in with my parents. So, five kids in two beds, doesn't sound that bad right? Yeah well, not if you're the only girl sleeping next to four boys." Camille sighed and looked down. She blew out a breath. "We were God fearing people. Went to church every Sunday." She shook her head. "I guess I missed the part in the bible where it says it's ok to molest and rape a five year old girl."

She looked at Mik, fire in her eyes. "Momma figured it out though. She was," she looked to the ceiling, "amazing isn't a big enough word for her. She kept me home sick from school one day when I was seven, even though I wasn't. I felt fine, but she sent me back to bed while Daddy and the boys went to work and school. After a while she came in with a suitcase. She had me pile what little clothes I had in it and then pack up my baby sister Amelia's clothes. She was two and Momma knew it wouldn't be long before the boys started in on her too."

"How did she know?" Mik asked.

"Well, I would cry and throw a fit when she left me alone with them. I hated going to bed and put it off for as long as I could, hoping they would fall asleep before I got in there. I was never that lucky. It was either get the belt for not going to bed or go to bed and not sleep much. One day Momma was giving me a bath and she, she washed my privates and I cried out. She asked what was wrong and looked down there. She was enraged when she saw the bruising and I told her what had been happening for the past two years. She cried and held me for a long time. She kept apologizing, saying she didn't know.

The thing was, she knew Daddy. She knew and had felt his temper, it was no secret he was a very angry man. The police came to our house at least once a week. My brothers were getting older, the oldest turned 16 that year. They were starting to take after his temper too. She knew we had to disappear. So one day we did. We packed up our clothes and took a cab to the train station. Momma had been squirreling money away from the sewing she did for neighbors.

She'd mend shirts and pants for them, make curtains, whatever they needed. They were sworn to secrecy. They knew Daddy's temper too. She had been planning to escape, this just moved up her time table. She had enough money to get us a train ride to Cheyenne, Wyoming." She looked meaningfully at Mik. "When that wasn't far enough, we took another train up to Montana. From there, we snuck into Canada. It was," she scoffed, "difficult to get into Canada but we made it."

Mik nodded, the tears were falling as she listened. She didn't think she'd hear a story similar to her own. She'd always felt so alone. No one could possibly understand the pain of what she went through. She looked at Camille and knew that she understood. She understood very well how it felt. Looking at her now though, she could feel the strength and confidence coming from her. It was like the scars were there, but they were faded. Not forgotten, they'd never be forgotten, but they weren't open and raw any more. They were healed.

"We kept moving until we reached Medicine Hat, Alberta. We changed our names and disappeared. We were there for nearly a year before he found us again. I remember it perfectly. I was riding around the block with my new friend Jules. She lived just down the street from me and had started talking to me about my bike. We hung out a lot and became fast friends. We did everything together, I told her everything.

A car pulled onto our street so we rode to the side and waited for it to pass, except it stopped. Out stepped my dad and my oldest brother Leon. I told Jules to run. I knew it was going to be bad. What I didn't expect was for my friend to stand up to the two men in front of her. She started screaming, 'stranger danger! Stranger danger!'. It brought people out of their houses, including my mom who rushed over to us.

Jules' mom ran out still holding the phone she had called 911 from. Both of them got between us and them. Man," she smiled and shook her head, "Jules' mom was a barracuda. She had my dad shaking in the knees. My dad." She put a hand to her heart. "The meanest, nastiest man I had ever known was shaking like a child because of the way Mrs. C. stood up to him. No one had done that to him, ever. Of course that enraged him and the shaking stopped. He backhanded her just as the police arrived.

They immediately arrested him for assault. They sentenced him to five years which he served and was returned to the U.S. With instructions to never return to Canada. After it happened Momma and I got our Canadian citizenship. She had been working with a social worker since we moved to the Hat to get citizenship and it happened to go through after the incident. We haven't heard from my dad since then." She shrugged. "Not that I ever cared to. Momma heard from a few of the boys once they hit 18, but I didn't want anything to do with any of them." She sighed and looked at Mik.

Camille could see that Mik needed to blow her nose badly so she reached her hand towards Mik's, keeping her eyes locked with the green ones. She carefully lifted the blanket and pushed it away from Mik's hand. She tipped her head so she could see the buckle and undid it. She handed Mik a tissue and waited for her to compose herself.

"Why tell me all this?" Mik asked as she used several tissues to blow her nose.

"So you know you're not alone, Mik. Don't you see? I understand how you feel, better than most. I've been where you are. And I'm here to tell you that you can't give up." Green eyes moved to hers and she continued. "After it happened, after we were finally free of them, I had a breakdown. I was only eight, but it, it was bad. I didn't want to live with what they'd done to me.

I saw it every time I closed my eyes. I was lucky though, I had Jules. She came to see me every day. We talked, we hung out, and I knew that if I needed her she would be there." She smiled at the memory. "She bought walkie talkies with her allowance and gave one to me so that we could talk if I woke up in the middle of the night. She's the best friend I've ever had. Still is."

Mik smiled through the tears. That was KK. She'd come to the hospital every day when she was unconscious, Sam had told her. She thought of Sam. How were they going to get through this? "How long before you, did you start dating when you were a teen?"

Camille smiled. "Yes, when I was 14, but by then I'd been in counseling for eight years."

"Eight years?" Mik frowned.

"Yes. I didn't go all the time, only when I needed to talk about something. I talked to my mom a lot too. She always made it better. I was worried when a boy asked me out the first time, but Momma always knew what to say. He wasn't them. There are good men out there. Like your Sam." Camille said.

"I don't know if he's mine." Mik looked at Camille. She was sure Camille knew all about Jules and Sam. "I don't know if he ever was. This whole thing has got me so confused about him."

"I can imagine." Camille nodded.

They sat and talked for over an hour before Jules knocked on the door. She was glad to hear laughter from inside. She smiled and felt immense love for her friend. She had broken through to Mik. Until now, Cheryl told her Mik had been very solemn and refused to talk when she woke up. They had kept the restraints on as a precaution. She pushed open the door and smiled. "Hey guys. Just wanted check in, see if everything was ok."

"Hey Jules." Mik smiled. "Camille is a hoot. Where have you been hiding her?"

Jules laughed and put a hand on Camille's shoulder. "She's tough to nail down sometimes. She hides herself."

Camille laughed. "You have my number." She looked up at Jules, then back to Mik. "And so does Mik." She stood. "Well, I'll let you get some rest. Remember, we wear our scars, they don't wear us. Call me anytime. I mean it."

"Thank you Camille. For everything. I mean it." Mike put her hand out and was happy when Camille took it and squeezed.

"You're welcome. We'll talk soon." Camile squeezed her hand and released it. She turned and walked out of the room with Jules following.

"Jules!" Mik called before Jules disappeared out the door.

Jules turned and returned to Mik's side. "You ok? You need something?"

Mik put her arm out and Jules smiled, leaned in and gave her a hug. "Thank you." She felt the tears prickle her eyes. When Jules pulled back she said, "I can't believe you."

"What do you mean?" Jules asked.

"You're being so nice to me. Me, your ex's new girlfriend. You aren't like anyone else I've known Jules. Anyone else would be jealous, vindictive and mean. Not you. You call your friend, who is not only my idol, but knows what I've been through and shared her story with a stranger. Who I would now consider a friend. Who instructed a yoga event for me. Thanks really isn't enough, but, thanks."

Jules swiped at her eyes. "You're welcome Mik." She nodded. "I'm happy to help a friend." She gave Mik a hopeful look. When Mik nodded she hugged her again. When she pulled back she smiled and said, "I'll send KK and Orlando in ok?"

Mik nodded and wiped her eyes.

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AN: "We all have scars. It just depends on how you look at them. We wear our scars, they don't wear us." ~Purpwithapen

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	23. Chapter 23

Sam walked into Mik's room later that afternoon. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she was smiling. "Hey. How are you?" He leaned in and meant to kiss her lips but she gave him her cheek. He pulled back and frowned. "What's wrong?" He sat in the chair.

"Nothing. I've just been thinking." Mik looked at the TV. The fundraiser was big news. The local channel had called asked for an interview. She still wasn't sure what she was going to tell them. She had told them she'd have to think about it.

"Yeah?" Sam said, curious. He knew she had a lot to think about and wondered if the doctor told her about kids.

She looked down, then at him meeting his curious blue eyes. "Yeah. The gynecologist came in a while ago."

Before she could continue he stopped her by grabbing her hand. "There's lots of options. Lots of hope."

"I know. He told me. It's not impossible." She took a breath. "I just-"

"Listen. You've been through a lot. Way more than anyone I've known. I thought I was alone on that, but I see that I'm not. No one is. But you can get through it. We can get through it." He gave her a serious look.

Mik let a tear slip down her cheek as she looked at him. She had been ready to let him go. She thought it was the right thing to do, now she wasn't so sure. She didn't want him to have to go through a fertility struggle with her, if they got that far. She was sure she loved him, but she wasn't sure he felt the same. She could see why he had been with Jules. She was truly an amazing person and woman. What was the saying? If you let someone go and they come back you know it was meant to be.

She laid back against the pillows. This would've been easier if he'd just let her roll off the roof. He would've grieved for her and moved on. Jules would've helped him, so would his team. They'd be sad, angry, but they would've gone on.

Now, now KK had gotten the whole community behind her. More donations were pouring in from everywhere. They had already gathered $3,000 from the fundraiser. They paid her landlord $1,800 for the rent for the next three months. That left $1,200 to pay her apartment rent and utilities for the month plus a little extra for food. She was set until she could return home, which she hoped was sometime in the next week.

Her fever had broken during the night and she had awakened. She had hoped the scene with Xavier had been a dream, but the doctor explained about her injuries and she knew it had been real. All of it was real. She had been hysterical. They had to sedate her to get her to calm down. When she woke for the second time she begged the nurse not to mention it to anyone. That was the last time she spoke until Camille Bastille walked into her room.

She had asked Camille why she chose that name. It was an old family name, she had said. It means virgin of unblemished character in Latin. Camille had wanted a new start and the new name helped her do that. Her mother had chosen the last name Bastille. It was the name of a fortress built in the 14th century in Paris and was turned into a prison in the 17th and 18th century. The name literally means fortress. That's what Camille's mother felt they were after all they'd been through. They were a fortress against those that would hurt them.

Sam watched her as she internalized her thoughts. He knew what she was trying to say. She was pushing him away. He felt bad that he hadn't said 'I love you' back to her when she had said it on the roof. He wanted to try to explain, but he wasn't sure how. She was already dealing with so much, he didn't want to add this to it. He had an appointment with Dr. Lauria later, he'd ask her about it. He squeezed her hand to get her attention.

Mik looked up when he squeezed. She had been thinking so loudly she forgot he was there for a minute. "Sorry." She gave him a half smile. "Thinking."

He nodded and gave her a tight smile. He decided to change the subject. "So that event was amazing. So many people."

Mik nodded and looked at the TV. "Camille is amazing. She came to see me after."

"We got to meet her before they headed over here. She seemed pretty cool." Sam nodded.

"Is that the universal 'we' or-?" Mik asked curiously.

Sam laughed. "No. The whole team went, plus Shelly, Sophie and Clark. Even a few members of the other teams showed." He smiled at her.

Mik couldn't help smiling when she saw that milliwatt smile of his. It was contagious. The whole team plus wives and one of the kids? Plus some from the other teams. Wow. "Tell them all thank you for me." She bit her lip.

"What?" Sam asked gently leaning closer.

"The local TV station asked for an interview."

Sam's eyebrows went up. "That's kind of cool." He stuck out his lip for a second. "You could tell everyone thanks at the same time."

"Yeah but they'll want to know what happened. I can't tell them- everyone." She looked at him, panicked.

Sam nodded slightly. He understood her need for privacy. "Well, half truths are better than the truth sometimes. You could say that you were the victim of a domestic violence situation. Just tell the reporter ahead of time you aren't going to go into details and that you'll only do the interview if they keep it that way. I can be there. I'll end it if they try to pry." He eyed her. "What do you think?"

Mik thought about it for a minute. She shook her head. "No, I don't think I could do it right now."

"Totally understandable." Sam squeezed her hand again.

Suddenly Mik felt totally selfish. Everyone had been so worried about her, wasn't Sam's cousin injured? She looked at Sam so quickly that it startled him slightly. "I'm sorry, I'm so selfish."

Sam frowned at her. "What do you mean?"

"How is your cousin? Is he ok?" Mik asked.

"Oh." Sam chuckled. "Derrick. Yeah he's fine. Just a minor head wound. The news blew it out of proportion. I'm sure the General and Commodore had some choice words for him." He did not envy his cousin for the headache and verbal whipping he'd receive for being so dehydrated he fainted, fell from his perch and landed on his head. It was a basic essential, something a soldier always kept in his mind.

"Commodore? His dad's a Commodore?"

"Yeah." Sam smiled. Almost as high ranking as his aptly named badass brother. "High ranking Navy."

That brought a question to her mind. "Is everyone in your family in the military?"

Sam tipped his head to the side is a sort of shrug. "Most of them. The General has the one brother and two sisters. Neither of them are in the military, but their husbands and two of the kids are. My Aunt Joan and Uncle Rory have five kids. Derrick is 28 and a Corporal, the twins, Gary and Larry, are 20, Mary is 14 and in JROTC and Kennady is 12. Aunt Nina and Uncle Bob have four kids, Jackson is 18 and just enlisted, Joe is 16, Jeremiah is 15 and Jessica is 4."

"Wow. Lots of cousins. I'm curious though, Jessica is only 4? Big age difference between her and Jeremiah."

Sam laughed. "Yeah she was a surprise. But secretly I think Aunt Nina wanted one more try for a girl. After Jess was born Uncle Bob got fixed." He smiled but it dropped when he saw her face. Kids. He kept looking at her, but she wouldn't meet his eyes. "Mik."

"Sorry." She glanced at him. She didn't really want to venture onto another sensitive subject, but it was all they had. "When is the funeral?"

Sam clenched his jaw. From one sensitive subject to another, he thought. "Tomorrow, 3pm."

Mik squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry I can't be there, but I will be in spirit."

"I know honey." Sam smiled at her warmly but he saw her stiffen when he called her honey. Was physical contact with him too much? He let go of her hand, thinking it was too soon.

Mik saw and felt him drop her hand. She looked at him but he was looking at the floor. Things felt so awkward between them and she knew it was her fault. She was pulling away from him.

At that moment, Dr. Lauria walked in the room. She could see the awkward tension between them. Something was up. Good thing I have a session with Sam later, she thought. "Hello you two." She smiled.

"Hey Doc." Sam turned and smiled at her as she advanced to the bed. He stood and looked down at Mik. "See you later?"

Mik tipped her head, and said, "I'll be here."

Sam laughed, waved and left.

Dr. Lauria sat in the chair, took out her notepad and said, "so."


	24. Chapter 24

##### Two weeks after second rescue #####

Mik sighed as she looked down at her suitcase sitting on her bed. She'd barely looked at her apartment when she walked back in. She used the crutches and hobbled into her living room. It looked the same, except that magazines were piled neatly on one corner and it smelled really clean. She turned and looked at the kitchen, specifically the refrigerator. Oh man. I wonder if KK and Jules cleaned out the fridge too.

She'd felt so honored when they had offered to clean her apartment for her before she was released from the hospital. The three of them had spent a lot of time together over the last two weeks. Sometimes they would come individually, others, together. Jules had a weird work schedule, so she wasn't always available at the same time.

It felt so good to have two close women friends like KK and Jules. Mik had even called Camille a couple times in the past weeks when she was having a rough day. She'd had many rough days over the past two weeks. She still felt, sometimes, that Sam and the team should've let her roll off the roof. Dr. Lauria had been such a huge help to her, still was. She still had to see Dr. L twice a week, but the daily sessions had been deemed unnecessary.

She hobbled to the fridge, put a hand on the door and took a breath, holding it in case it smelled horrible. She opened the door and was surprised to find the fridge full of food. Several tin foil covered baking dishes and plastic ware with labels on them. "Pancetta." Mik read aloud, leaned back and smiled. "Spike's mom."

"Oh man, she is an awesome cook." Jules smiled and stuck her head around the edge of the door of the fridge. "You hungry?"

Mik looked at the clock."Yeah, I guess. I have to take my meds soon anyway." She shrugged.

"Meds still making you nauseous?" Jules asked concerned.

"Yeah. Damn things. I'd stop taking them if my damned thigh didn't start screaming when they wore off." Mik crutched closer to the shelf and looked through the various containers. "Where did all of this come from anyway?"

Jules sympathized with her friend. She'd been injured more times than she could count and knew the recovery was the hard part. She watched as Mik looked at each item. "Some from me, KK, Shelly, Sophie, Winnie, Spike's mom, even the Boss made a casserole. I didn't know he could cook." She said surprised.

Mik looked on the top shelf and saw that they had bought orange and cran grape juice, her favorites. There were also cheese sticks, apples, oranges and tangerines. She looked at the cupboards and back at Jules who shrugged. She went to the cupboards and opened them. There was crackers, peanut butter, almonds and pistachios, and then some other dry goods like rice and cereal. She hung onto the last cupboard, next to the sink and sobbed.

Jules moved to her and rubbed her back. "You ok?"

"It's just so overwhelming. You not only cleaned my apartment, but you stocked my fridge and cupboards too?" She shook her head. "I don't know what I did to deserve such awesome friends."

"An awesome person like you deserves to have awesome friends." Jules smiled.

Mik wiped her eyes and gave Jules a half smile. She closed the cupboard and went back to the fridge. She opened the door and looked at the food. Suddenly she stood, curious and opened the freezer. She couldn't help but let out a chuckle when she saw frozen pizza and a few frozen Weight Watcher meals. There was also chicken breasts, beef and pork and frozen vegetables. Man, she thought, they really went all out. She took out one of the packages of chicken breast, closed the freezer and looked at Jules. "So, what do you feel like having?"

"I think we should order in." Jules said. She didn't want to eat any of the food they had made for her first week home. "Timmy's?"

"Sure." Mik shrugged. She hobbled to the counter separating the kitchen and living room and picked up her prescription bottles. She heard Jules place their order. She couldn't decide which leg hurt more. At least they put my right leg in a walking boot, she thought. She growled in frustration when she couldn't get the safety cap open. She trembled with the effort until strong, warm hands covered hers.

"I've got it. Why don't you get settled on the couch?" Jules took the bottles from her and got them open after a few tries. She watched Mik hobble to the couch and lower herself carefully down to the cushions. She took out the pills, grabbed a granola bar from the cupboard, filled a glass with water and carried them to the couch. She saw Mik wince as she swung her legs up on the couch one at a time.

Mik leaned back against the arm of the couch and sighed. This sucks, she thought. She looked at the pills Jules handed her. Only one pain pill. Her legs were both aching. Her pelvis hurt. Damn him, she thought angrily. She looked up at Jules. "I need another pain pill please."

"Bad huh?" Jules studied Mik's face. Her face was tight, jaw clenched, the pain radiating in her green eyes.

"Yeah. I think I'm going to go to bed for awhile." Mik looked at the bedroom door which seemed fifty feet away instead of the actual five. "Or just rest here." She said changing her mind.

Jules smiled at the decision for Mik to stay where she was. "Ok. Take those now and then once lunch is here I'll give you the other one." She handed Mik the water and waited while she took the pills. Once Mik handed the glass back to her she gave her the granola bar.

Mik took a couple bites of the granola bar and waited. It took several minutes, but she felt the pill starting to take the edge off. It was a little bit of a euphoric feeling when the pain pill kicked in. She was able to function and be awake on just one pill, but it definitely made her happier. She looked at Jules. "So how was work yesterday?"

Jules sat in the chair next to the couch. "Ok. I have a few new bruises, but not as bad as Sam's." Jules laughed. She launched into the story about one of the calls they went on. It wasn't funny at the time, but they could laugh now that it was over. Poor Sam, Jules thought. He was trying to help the woman get out of the line of fire, but she was moving really slow up the metal steps to her apartment building next to the subjects.

Sam had tried to help the woman and took a couple of the bags she was carrying. What he didn't know was that the woman had her miniature chihuahua in one of the bags. When Sam took the bag the dog jumped up and startled him, so much so that he bumped into the woman, they both lost their balance and tumbled down the steps. Sam had grabbed the woman and used his body to shield hers as they fell.

Jules remembered there being several moments of silence before Sam answered their calls for his status. They had all heard the dog, commotion and grunts and shouts of Sam and the woman. Jules and Spike had rushed to the stairs to find Sam and the woman in a heap at the bottom of the stairs with the little dog running around them barking. The woman had sat up, stunned and started yelling at Sam for knocking her down the stairs.

Luckily they were both ok, although Sam already had a myriad of bruises by the time the call was over. They had EMS check both of them out, but Sam had insisted he was fine and helped them apprehend the subject.

"So how did you get bruises?" Mik asked frowning at her.

"Oh yeah. So, we move into the house and start clearing it. The subject decided to hide in a hidden closet in the kitchen. As I walked by, he jumped out and we fell to the ground." She picked up her right arm and showed her the bripuise on her forearm where she landed on it. "I managed to wrestle him to his stomach but he got a couple good shots into my chin and stomach." Jules pointed to the bruise on her chin. "Wordy was near me so he got the cuffs on."

"Wow." Mik raised an eyebrow.

"Eh. Just another day in paradise." Jules smiled at her. "Livin' the dream."

Mik smiled. She remembered that feeling. Of being satisfied, of knowing you were doing something you loved. She missed teaching her classes. She couldn't wait to get back to it. It was unfortunate, but her boss at her other job had told her that they needed to replace her. It was really busy and they needed someone ASAP. She told him she understood, which she did. He had a business to run, and so does she.

She had decided, with Dr. Lauria's encouragement that she would focus on running her studio full time once she was fully healed. Mik thought back nearly two weeks before when she had talked to Dr. Lauria about Sam. She was really glad to see Dr. Lauria when she'd walked into Mik's room. She had impeccable timing.


	25. Chapter 25

Mik had looked at Dr. Lauria as she entered the room. Of course she could tell something was up. Mik felt a sense of relief when she saw the psychiatrist. Things between her and Sam were very awkward. She wasn't sure what she wanted and she was even less sure what Sam wanted.

"So." Dr. Lauria raised a brow at her.

"Yeah." Mik said, looking away. Where to start, she thought. "I'm assuming you know about the fundraiser."

"Yes. How did that make you feel?"

"Honored, but unworthy. It's hard to believe that perfect strangers would do that for me. I talked to Camille, I assume you know who she is." Mik looked at Dr. L questioningly. When she nodded, Mik continued. "She shared her story with me. It's similar to mine. She made me see that you can move on, you don't forget completely, but you don't let it define you."

"She sounds like a very smart woman." Dr. L nodded.

"Yes. She gave me her number. She's really amazing." Mik smiled when she thought of the strong woman she had spent time with earlier today.

"It's good to hear you being so positive." Dr. L smiled. "But you said you felt unworthy. Why?"

"I've never felt worthy." Mik shrugged and looked away. "Peter made sure of that. Then Xavier of course."

"They couldn't let you think much of yourself." Dr. L tipped her head trying to catch Mik's eye. "Remember we talked about that a little?"

"I guess." Mik shrugged.

"They felt bad about themselves so they made it their mission to make you and your mom feel bad about yourselves. Do you know anything about Peter's background?"

Mik shook her head. "Not much. Just that he comes from a long line of plantation owners, until the Great Depression when they lost everything. I met his grandfather and father once. That was enough." She shuddered.

"Why?'

"If you met them, you'd know why Peter was the way he was. Every generation bred more hate into the next. Hate for anyone who wasn't a white male. Peter snuck off at least once a week. Momma ignored it, but I couldn't. I followed him one night, straight to a Klu Klux Klan meeting." She looked pointedly at Dr. L. "It was horrible. Talk about spewing hate. I vowed then that I would get my mom away from him."

"How old were you?"

"12."

"Had the abuse started?"

"That night. I don't know how, but he knew I was at the meeting. I snuck away before the meeting ended, and I thought I had been careful. He came in and whooped me good. Told me that he'd kill me if I ever said anything. It started as whippings and beatings, with his hand, the belt, baseball bat, whatever was handy. Then one night," she took a ragged breath, "momma was real sick. She and Mikaela got the flu and they were both passed out in the bed, but Peter was horny. He wanted…well, he took it."

"I'm sorry that happened to you."

Mik wiped her eyes and shrugged. Everyone said that. Everyone felt sorry for her. She wondered why when everything she knew told her she deserved it. It was her lot in life. She had dared to believe when she met Sam and Spike in the bar that night.

"Mik?" Dr. L could see the self doubt cross Mik's face. "Tell me about your sister, Mikaela." She understood completely why Mik had changed her name. She wanted to disassociate herself from the helpless, hopeless broken person that was Karen and be someone else.

Mik smiled. "She was, beautiful. So beautiful. Curly brown hair like I had, sparkling blue eyes. Her laugh was like a song on the wind. Melodic and infectious. She would start giggling at something and I couldn't help but to laugh too. She loved ladybugs." A tear slipped down Mik's cheek.

"Ladybugs?"

"Yeah. She said they were good luck. She had pictures of them in her room and even did a science project on them for school. Every night she took buggy to bed with her. That was her giant stuffed ladybug. She couldn't sleep without it and she wouldn't go anywhere without it. She took it to the neighbor's that day." Mik looked away, her lip trembling.

"The day she died?" Dr. L raised a brow. When Mik nodded, she pushed on. "What happened that day?"

Mik let out the breath she was holding in a burst. "I told her to leave that damned ladybug at home, but she wouldn't. She wouldn't." Mik said angrily. "We were playing in the pool with the neighbor kids. They had a couple girls the same age as Mikaela and I. Their brother was older, but he was a jerk. Anyway, the brother, Victor grabbed buggy from the chair where Mikaela had left him in and started teasing Mik that he was going to throw buggy in the pool. So of course Mik got upset." She looked at Dr. L who nodded.

"Mik got out of the pool and started chasing Victor around it. The parents were inside taking care of the youngest, Gilly, who needed them to fix her swimmers and floatie. They were running fast, but it was like it was slow motion. I yelled at them to slow down, but Victor just ran faster. She wasn't watching where she was going and her left foot slipped off the side of the pool.

Then she fell, sh-she hit her head on the side of the pool and fell in the water. I screamed, I just screamed for her. The blue water turned red with the blood. So much blood. Victor's parents came running out and pulled Mik from the pool but it was too late." Mik sobbed. "They took her to the hospital, but she was brain dead. She hit her temple on the concrete. It-it caused the bones to break and uh, go into her brain. She died instantly.

She should've listened to me, but she wouldn't when it came to that stupid toy. She'd still be alive if she'd just listened to me." Mik seethed. She's been too far away from them to stop them from running around. She should've jumped out and stopped Victor when he grabbed the toy. "I should've gotten out of the pool right away. I could've saved her."

"It was an accident Mik. How far away from them were you when Victor grabbed the toy?"

"The deep end of the pool, so at least ten feet." Mik felt rather than saw Dr. L release one of her hands and put a tissue in it.

"Then Mikaela jumped out and they ran around that end of the pool."

"Yes."

"So they moved a little farther from you."

"Yes."

"How long after they started running did she fall?"

"I don't know! Sh-she took maybe five steps." Mik said wiping her eyes.

"Five steps. So do you think you could've gotten out of the pool and gotten to them before she fell?"

Mik looked at Dr. L, understanding lighting her eyes. "No."

"Right." Dr. L nodded. "It was a freak accident Mik. It just happened. It's tragic and sad, but there wasn't anything you could do to save her."

"Couldn't save her." Mik cried. "I couldn't save her. I couldn't." She shook her head violently.

"We don't know why these things happen, they just do." She watched Mik grieve. Watched the hurt pool and overflow from the depths of her soul. All this time, she had blamed herself for her sister's death and it wasn't her fault. She saw this a lot. Many of her clients had misplaced blame. Sam was one of them. It was a big issue for him. She could see how Mik and Sam could connect on several levels. When Mik calmed, Dr. L brought up the subject she had initially meant to broach. "You know you and Sam have a lot in common."

Mik inhaled when she heard his name. "Yeah. We've both been through a lot." She sniffed and thanked her when Dr. L handed her another tissue.

"You have, but things seemed pretty strained when I came in."

Mik sighed. "They were. I don't know what to do. I'm sure that I, well, love him. He's so handsome, caring and sweet. And," she looked down and picked at the blanket, "he's was so gentle when we made love."

"You made love? How did you feel after? Did it bring up any issues?"

"Uh, afterwards I had a flashback when he called me beautiful."

"Was that something Peter or Xavier called you?"

Mik snorted. "No never. That's why. I've only been told that maybe once or twice."

"An unbelievable truth."

"Yes." Mik shifted in the bed. "I know it was an," her eyes flicked to Dr. L's, "intense situation on the roof, but I meant it when I said I loved him and if he would stick with me, see me through then it would be worth it. But now, I feel like our relationship complicates things."

"I'm sure. You're still trying to deal with everything that has happened to you up to this point."

"I was going to tell him that we should take a break today, but he wouldn't let me. I didn't mean to be, but I was distant to him. When he's around I feel confused. I don't know how to be around him now. Sometimes I can't tell the difference between him and Peter or Xavier."

"That's very normal after what you've been through. Maybe it is a good idea if you take a break."


	26. Chapter 26

### week after Mik's second rescue & Lew's death #####

"How has this past week been Sam?" Dr. Lauria settled herself in the chair next to Sam's couch while Sam sat in the middle of the couch, relaxed.

"Ok." Sam shrugged. "The new girl started with us this week."

"That must've been a little difficult." Dr. Lauria nodded.

Sam's eyebrows lifted. "Yeah."

She tipped her head at him. "How's the team dynamic?"

"I think we're getting comfortable with her. She got us all these bracelets." Sam put his arm out and showed her the black band with Lew's name and badge number on it.

"That was nice of her."

"It was. She told us that she understood she was filling some big shoes but not to hate her for it."

"Do you?"

Sam looked away. Did he? He answered honestly, "no. I don't. It was very cool of her to do that for us."

"Kind of an olive branch."

"Yeah." Sam looked at Dr. L and smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I've been over to Spike's a few times this week. He's taking it very hard."

"Yes. I'm glad you've been there for him." Dr. L made a mental note to stop by Spike's house. She had a session with each of the team members once a week, but she knew Spike would need her more.

Sam shrugged. "It's what family does." He could see Dr. L formulating her next question and answered it before she asked. "She's not family yet, but it'll come. I know she has my back and the back of the team."

Dr. L twisted her lips into a wry smile. Smart guy. "Good. How are you dealing with the loss?"

Sam sat back and looked above her head. How was he dealing with it? It hurt. A lot. He, Lew and Spike had started hanging out together and had gotten to be very close. It always hurt to lose a teammate, but this was deeper. By some measure, it was almost as bad as losing Matt. He had thought that nothing would compare to Matt, but this, this scratched at that old wound and tore it open.

He could feel the crust ripping away to expose the rawness underneath. It made his heart hurt. He'd never get to pick on him and call him Less Lethal Lew again. Never get to hang out at Spike's and have a moviefest pig out. Never hear him talk about his parents or sister again. He loved them so much. It had killed Sam to see them at the funeral, broken and in pain.

He had sat next to Spike through the service to offer support. Team One

sat together to offer support to each other. They'd needed it. Spike broke down during the ceremony. Sam had put his arm around Spike's shoulders and the team had silently placed their hands on either Spike's, Sam's or the person in front of them's shoulder. It was a truly touching scene that left everyone in the church in tears. To see them rally around a friend like that was heartwarming.

Then, when the other SRU officers, all in dress uniform, put their hands on the backs of the group and each other, everyone really lost it. There had been a photographer there to take respectful pictures of the motorcade and service for the paper and he took a picture of the scene in the church. The photographer had shown the picture, taken from the balcony at the front of the church, to the family and they had agreed it should be printed. It was the front page picture and a beautiful representation of the SRU family. Sam hadn't known it at the time, he was too engrossed with consoling Spike and Jules who had sat on his other side, but Spike had put a hand on Lew's sister Tia's shoulder and the family had fallen suit.

He had felt guilty for putting his arm around Jules and letting her cry on his chest. He had needed her and she him. They were friends. Isn't that what friends are supposed to do? Except for the surge of love he had felt as he held her during the committal. She had cried so hard. He had Spike on one side and Jules on the other. He had tried to be stoic and support them, but the tears had flowed when Taps was played and Commander Holleran had handed the folded flag to Lew's dad.

Sam had broken from the group after the service was over and walked down the hill to Matt's grave alone. He stood there for awhile before Jules had found him there, talking softly to his old friend. He hadn't heard her and had continued to talk to Matt. "He's a friend so I need you to make him welcome, ok Matt? Take care of him for us. Miss you buddy." He had turned to find Jules wiping tears from her eyes.

"That was beautiful Sam." She had said and walked into his arms.

"You doing ok?" He had held her tight, loving the feel of her in his arms.

She shook her head and had backed away from him. "Not really. You?" She could feel his body was starting to react to hers being pressed to him.

"No." He shook his head. He walked forward and she walked beside him in silence back to the vehicles.

Sam came back to the present, looked up at Dr. L and saw her watching him.

"That good huh?" She gave him a sympathetic smile.

"I'm ok I guess. There are good and bad days."

"It must be hard trying to deal with Lew's death on top of everything that's happened to you and Mik." She eyed him. "I'm sure it can feel overwhelming."

Sam nodded and laced his fingers in his lap. "It is. I don't know which is harder to deal with. Plus, I-" she snapped his mouth shut. He wasn't sure he wanted to admit it out loud.

"You what?

Sam sighed. "I don't really know what I want. I like Mik, she's beautiful, sexy, funny." He put a hand up, palm up.

"But she isn't Jules."

Sam's gaze flicked to hers. "No, she's different than Jules and that's one of the reasons I like her. She's been through so much. I don't know." He looked at her with confusion. "What do I do?"

"She's been through a lot. You've been through a lot. It's hard to deal with everything and try to deal with a relationship."

"You think we should take a break." Sam looked at her with understanding. "Is that what you told Mik?"

"No. It's not my decision, Sam. That's between the two of you. You both have to decide what our want." She paused. "So walk me through it. What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that I'm a jerk." Sam closed his eyes. "You heard her on the roof. She said she loved me and I didn't say it back. I couldn't. I feel bad, but I don't love her. It's way too early, and after what's happened, I feel farther from her rather than closer. Could it turn into love? It's possible, but I need more time."

"Then maybe that's what you tell her. I'm sure she'll understand that." Dr. L already knew the answer, but she asked anyway. "Do your feelings for Jules have anything to do with it?"

"A little. I'll always love her, but we can't be together because of the rules. Neither of us want to leave the team. It's one of the reasons I started talking to Mik when Spike and Lew pointed her out in the bar. I know I have to move on. It's just really hard when-" His blue eyes flicked to hers.

"When what?"

"When you love someone else." Sam wasn't going to say what he really meant. When you know the one person you can't have is the perfect person for you. He didn't have to think too hard about it. He knew with all his heart that Jules was his soulmate. They're meant to be together. They just had to figure out how to be together and both stay on Team One. "I don't want to hurt Mik. She's had enough to last a lifetime."

"That's very noble of you." Dr. L nodded and smiled. "I know you'll do what you can not to hurt her."

"I don't want to right now. Not when she's in the hospital." Sam shook his head. Honestly, he didn't want to have to talk to her at all. He knew he was going to hurt her, even if they just took a break for awhile.

"Well, I don't think it's a good idea to not talk to her at all."

"No." Sam looked at the carpet and frowned. He looked up at Dr. L. He blew out a breath and raised an eyebrow.

##########

Mik was watching Oprah when he walked in. She looked at his face and knew something was up. As he got closer she could see the worry, fear and pain in his eyes. "Hey." She said flatly.

"Hey." Sam gave her a tight smile and sat down. "How're you feeling?"

Small talk, she thought. Ok. "They're keeping on top of the pain so, I feel ok."

"Good. I'm glad."

"Yeah," Mik scoffed, "me too."

Sam chuckled, feeling the tension ease a bit. "Have they said how long you'll have to stay here?"

"Another week or two. I hope sooner." She looked at him and saw that he was squirming in the chair a little. She sighed and looked at the ceiling. "What's up?" She said trying to sound casual.


	27. Chapter 27

Sam narrowed his eyes at her. She obviously knew they needed to talk. He took a breath. "Things between us have been strained since you woke up."

"Yeah I know. Sorry." She looked at him with sincerity.

"It's not all you. It's been me too." Sam leaned forward and put a hand on hers, below the restraint.

Mik looked down at their hands. "I'm, uh, sorry about the roof. I didn't mean to blurt it out like that."

"No. I'm sorry. I, I didn't know what to say. I still kinda don't." He watched her face redden and felt even worse. He didn't mean to embarrass her. "Don't be ashamed of your feelings Mik. I'm honored that you feel that way about me."

Mik turned her head and looked at him. "But you don't feel the same." She looked away, the answer obvious in his face. "I understand." She closed her hand into a fist and he pulled his away.

"I'm sorry Mik. I don't want to hurt you. Lord knows you've had enough of that from the men in your life." Sam sat back in the chair and watched her nod. This was not going well at all. "Look, if we stay together, I may get there, but I need more time. I mean, technically we've only been dating for like a month and a half and you've been unconscious for half of it."

She scoffed lightly. He had used 'if' and 'maybe', meaning he wasn't sure they would still be together in the future. If she was being honest, she wasn't sure either. She looked at him. He looked ok, but she knew he wore masks to hide his feelings. "Are you doing ok?" She asked, deciding to change the subject for a minute.

Sam narrowed his eyes at her. Why was she changing the subject? Was she too hurt to keep talking about their relationship? Deflecting, he realized. He let her and said, "I'm doing ok. It's hard, but I'm ok."

"It's a lot to deal with I'm sure." Mik nodded. "How's your wounds?"

"They're ok too. I got my stitches out yesterday. Doc said they're healing up fine." He watched her drift away into a million mile stare. "Mik?" He said softly.

Mik listened to what he said at first, but her thoughts shifted. It's my fault he got hurt, she thought. If we weren't dating Peter and Xavier wouldn't have hurt him and used him to get to me. We wouldn't be having this conversation. Talking, or not talking about staying in a relationship. She was brought out of her thoughts when he said her name softly. "I think we should take a break." She said suddenly, still not looking at him.

Sam watched her eyes fill with pain and self loathing and felt guilty for putting it there. Finally, he nodded. "I agree."

She sucked in a breath and felt her eyes tearing. She dared a glance at him. He was watching her intently and the concern in his eyes was overwhelming. She swallowed hard to keep the tears at bay. Some part of her didn't think he would agree so easily. Part of her wanted him to say no, to fight for her, for them.

"I'm sorry Mik." Sam tipped his head down to try to catch her eye, but she shut her eyes and a tear slipped down her cheek.

Mik took a breath in and tipped her head up. "I know. Me too." She swallowed, fighting the tears. She was surprised when he undid the restraint and gently put a tissue in her hand. Even more so when he clasped that hand in both of his.

Sam stared at her intently. "I still care for you and about you. That doesn't change. I will be here for you if you need me. Day or night."

She wiped her eyes and blew her nose. She sniffed and looked at him. "I know that too. Same here. Maybe this will be good." She conceded. "We can each work on healing, getting on with our lives."

"Right. The past few weeks have been pretty rough." He caught her eye and gave her an understanding glance. "How have you been feeling?"

A wry smile played on her lips and she shrugged, looking at the bed. "Ok I guess. Dr. L has been helping. I like her."

"She's great." Sam agreed.

"Like you said it's a lot to deal with." Mik looked up at him and felt the tears forming again. "Um, if you don't mind, I'm kinda tired."

Her voice waivered. Sam heard it and felt guilty. He eyed her and knew she wanted time alone. He understood, but given her delicate mental state, he wasn't sure he should leave her alone. "I don't-"

Mik saw his indecision and realized what he was worried about. She put her hand back in the restraint and said tightly, "lock it."

"Mik," Sam said gently. She knew what he was thinking and he felt ashamed for thinking it. "I worry about you."

"It's not your job anymore." Mik said with irritation. She looked at him as he closed and locked the restraint around her wrist.

"Mik-"

"Please stop. Stop saying my name like that. Like it means more than it does." Her ire was rising. "It's ok. You can go, I'm not going to do anything stupid. I just want to be alone for awhile." She kept from making eye contact.

Sam looked down, unsure. She was obviously upset which made him worry more. He stood slowly. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Mik's voice waivered and she wiped her face on her shoulder. "Please. You can tell the nurse to come check on me in a while if you want."

Sam nodded and started to walk out. Before he reached for the door he said, "I don't care if it's the middle of the day or the middle of the night, if you need me call me. Ok?"

"Ok." Mik sighed. She waited 30 seconds after the door closed behind him and let the tears flow freely, sobbing.

Sam stood outside the door and heard her sobbing. It broke his heart to hear it. He stood there for nearly a minute until he couldn't take any more and went to the nurses desk. "Hey Cheryl." He nodded to the brunette.

"Hey." Cheryl said with sympathy. He looked like he'd been through the wringer. "Everything ok?"

"Yeah. Um, she was upset when I left so if you could," Sam raked a hand through his hair.

"Sure." Cheryl put a hand on his arm. The nurses on this floor had been warned about Mik's mental state and knew to check on her more often than other patients. She wondered if they had just broken up. From what Sam said and how he looked, it certainly seemed that way. Poor Mik and Sam, she thought.

Sam nodded and walked away. He felt terrible. As he walked outside he looked up at the window he knew was hers. I'm sorry, he thought. He'd said it twice, but it seemed so hollow now. As he got into his car he wondered if he should cancel dinner with Wordy and Shelly. They had invited him and Spike over tonight. It was Wordy's way of watching over them. They all grieve differently, they knew that, but that doesn't mean you have to grieve alone.

He looked at his watch, 1600. He had time for a run before. He knew that would help to clear his head. Fifteen minutes later he was pounding the pavement on his street. He turned down his favorite path and pushed himself to go faster. He heard it all in his head. _Guys, I think I just stepped on a landmine._ Spike's worried voice as he asked what the trigger felt like and his pause when Lew said several spikes through my boot.

Then Spike's face when he uncovered the landmine and saw the safety was glued. _Why are you all just standing there? Grab a shield, we're going to do a weight transfer._ His feet pounded harder. _Spike. Yeah buddy? Lew? Spike, It's going to be ok._ Those words echoed in his ears as he saw the explosion over and over. Then Mik's face as she tried to keep from crying.

When she wiped her eyes and wouldn't make eye contact. Listening to her cry from outside the door. He pumped his legs hard until they were on fire and he pushed harder. He saw a bench ahead of him and he collapsed on it, his chest heaving, head in his hands, tears running down his cheeks.

The Italian man sat silently next to the bent form on the bench. He put a comforting hand on the man's back and waited.

Sam felt the hand on his back and turned, surprised to see Spike sitting next to him on the bench. How did he know he was here? "Spike?"

"Yeah." Spike nodded. "I stopped by the hospital to see Mik and to see if you wanted a ride to Wordy's. She told me what happened." He sighed. "You ok?"

Sam wiped his face but put his head back in his hands. "I- I didn't, she- we." Sam shook his head.

"It's hard to move on when you love someone else." Spike said seriously.

Sam looked at him in surprise. He knows. He knows about Jules and I. How? "What?"

"Look. I know I seem innocent, but I pieced it together. I'm not blind." He shrugged and leaned closer to Sam. "I'm Batman." He said in his best deep voice.

Sam chuckled. Spike always could make him smile. He closed his eyes, happy that he didn't have to keep the secret from him. "It's hard." He looked at Spike, letting his emotions show. "I like her, but, then there's Jules. And everything that happened to Mik and then me. I just, we both need time to sort it all out, you know?"

"I do." Spike nodded. "It took me a long time after Her. I still have trouble sometimes." He put his arm around Sam's shoulders. "And then Lew." His voice caught on his name. He thought about his friend nearly every second of every day and had nightmares about the bomb going off at night. Over and over it played in his head. He was grateful for Dr. Lauria talking to him three times a week. It helped. Being with his team, his family, helped.

"I miss him so much." Sam sobbed and turned his body sideways on the bench.

"I know. I know. Me too." Spike turned towards Sam and put his forehead against Sam's, a hand on the crown of his head. "I gotcha buddy." Spike whispered.

They stayed that way for several minutes until both pulled back and Spike pulled tissues from his pocket. After they both blew their noses, Spike patted Sam's shoulder. "Want a ride?"

"In the Batmobile?" Sam looked at him, a twinkle in his eye.

"Yeah. C'mon Robin." Spike smiled and stood. He deepened his voice and said, "we have work to do."

Sam smiled, stood and followed Spike out of the park.


	28. Chapter 28

##### Mik's apartment, two weeks after second rescue #####

"Mik? You ok?" Jules asked. She saw Mik drift away, really only picking at her food. "Your lunch ok?"

"Oh. Yeah. I'm fine. I'm just not very hungry." Mik looked down at her half eaten chicken fingers and french fries. She picked up a chicken finger, dipped it in barbecue sauce and took a bite.

"You looked like you were a million miles away for a sec." Jules took a bite of her burger.

"Just thinking." Mik looked at Jules and smiled.

"Yeah. Lots to think about." Jules nodded.

"Mmm." Mik said around another bite of barbecue covered chicken goodness. Once she swallowed she said, "I'm really glad to be home though."

"I don't blame you there. Hospitals suck and you had a long stay. It's good to get back into your own environment, your own routine."

"Speaking from experience?" Mik raised a brow.

Jules tipped her head in agreement. "Unfortunately. I had just gotten back to the SRU when we met at the park. I was shot in the side and had to be in the hospital for just over a week. It sucked. Then my first call back with the team was in the same hospital."

"Wow." Mik said surprised. She didn't press for details. She knew Jules couldn't tell her. "I'll bet that brought back a few memories."

"Meh. It wasn't too bad." Jules shrugged.

"Ever the professional." Mik smiled. That was one of the things she liked about Jules, her ability to be so strong when she needed to be. "Oh, I talked to Camille earlier today. She said to say hi."

"How was she?" Jules smiled. She was glad she had introduced Camille and Mik. Mik was already talking about making plans to visit Camille and her family.

"Good. Her oldest, Michael broke his arm playing baseball. He'll be out the rest of the season."

"Aww. Poor kid." Jules munched on her fries.

"Yeah. He's really upset. Everything else is good. She wanted me to ask if you got the invite to their wedding vow renewal ceremony in August. " Mik arched an eyebrow. She saw hers on the kitchen counter with the rest of the mail.

"Oh. Yeah I did. I'll email her and let her know." Jules took out her phone and set a reminder. She saw a text from Sam, Mik settled in ok? She texted back, Yes. Eating lunch and hanging. She smiled and put her phone back in her pocket.

Mik felt a pang of jealousy. She saw Jules type something and wondered if she was texting Sam. Stop it, she told herself. You aren't together. After they talked in her room that day she didn't see or hear from him for several days. He called and checked on her a couple times, but otherwise they didn't communicate. She felt ok about it now.

That day she had cried for quite awhile. Cheryl had been reluctant to free one of her hands because she was so upset, but Mik had been a blubbering mess and had needed a hand free to blow her nose. Cheryl had finally released one of her hands but had stayed in the room for awhile until she had to leave for an emergency. She came back 20 minutes later, concerned, but Mik was fine. It hurt, but after a few days, and a few talks with Dr. L, she felt better.

The following week they had finally removed the restraints, under Dr. L's recommendation, and started her physical therapy. It was painful and really hard because she had so many injuries. Her pelvis was the most painful. She was glad for the pain meds they gave her. It made walking more manageable.

Mik blew out a breath when she shifted on the couch and felt a stab in her pelvis.

Jules watched Mik shift and blow out a breath in pain. When Mik looked at her she knew Mik needed the other pill. She stood and walked the few feet to the couch. "Are you done?" She put out a hand towards Mik's plate.

A wave of nausea passed over her, she handed Jules the plate and nodded. She waited until Jules came back and had Jules help her stand. She shuffled to the bedroom where Jules helped her settle into the bed and gave her the second pill and water. "Thanks." Mik sighed and took the pill. "You don't have to stay. I'm going to sleep for awhile. KK will be over tonight."

"Are you sure?" Jules looked at her critically.

"Yes. Thank you for everything. Tell the Sarge I said thanks for giving you the day off. Tell all of them hi for me."

"I will. Is there anything you need before I go?"

"No. Just lock the door on your way out." Mik said and laid her head on the pillows. Man she missed her own bed and pillows.

"Ok. Talk to you later?" Jules said over her shoulder as she started to leave. She saw Mik nod and close her eyes. She left the apartment and turned the key in the door and deadbolt. The SRU had replaced the door they had kicked in and the deadbolt. If Mik wanted more locks she'd have to get them herself. She knew Mik probably wouldn't need them any more though.

##### Mr. Chang's Chinese Restaurant, three weeks later #####

"Shhh!" KK said to the group gathered in the small party room of the restaurant. A waiter walked in a side door to the room and gave them a thumbs up. "She's coming!" She whispered excitedly.

"I've heard great things about this place." Jules said as she and Mik made their way to the side of the restaurant and the party room.

Mik was so glad she finally got the cast off of her leg. Physical therapy was still pretty painful, but she was moving better. She still moved too slow for her liking, but that was because of her pelvis. As she walked slowly towards the doors on the side of the room, she got a funny feeling. "Sorry, still a turtle these days." She said apologetically.

Jules looked at her incredulously. "You're fine. I'm in no hurry."

They finally made it to the doors of the room and Mik frowned at the group gathered in front of her. Everyone cheered and yelled "Happy Birthday!" She looked at Jules with surprise, her free hand over her heart, the other on the cane. "Oh my god!" She said getting misty eyed. They moved into the room and the group moved forward.

She hugged Spike, then Ed and Sophie. Wordy and Shelly were next, then Cheryl, Jules, KK and her husband.

Camille stepped forward and gave Mik a solid hug. "You look beautiful." She whispered. She pulled back and introduced Mik to her husband and children. They all were talking and laughing as they sat at the u-shaped table the restaurant set up. Mik sat at the top table with KK and her husband on one side and Sam and Jules on the other.

Sam gave Mik a hug before they sat down. "How are you feeling?" He asked. For him, the break had been what he needed to sort out his feelings for Mik and Jules. He had gone to Mik's apartment last week and talked to her about it.

It had been a month since he saw her in person and had been a little nervous. He had kept in contact with her, he couldn't just cut her off. He called or texted her a couple times a week. She took him up on his offer to be there for her only twice, both when she had woken with nightmares the week that they decided to take a break. After that he knew that she had relied mostly on KK and Camille, and Jules a few times. He knew because Jules came to work with dark circles under her eyes.

They had talked with ease this time, talking about things going on in their lives. He mostly talked about work and things that had happened with the new guy, Raf. She talked about physical therapy and finally admitted after a little teasing and prodding that she thought her physical therapist was cute. She did tell him that she wasn't jumping into another relationship just yet.

He understood. He wasn't either. That's what he wanted to talk to her about. He was nervous about it because he wasn't sure how she would react, but she was fine. Sam told her he wasn't seeing anyone either and that he wanted to stay that way. He didn't tell her, but he knew that Jules was his soulmate and come hell or high water they were going to be together. He also didn't tell her about their run in with Toth that had made them see their feelings weren't going to go away and they got back together.

She had been very understanding and told him it was better that they remain friends. There weren't any tears this time, all smiles. It'd been a good talk and they both felt better after.

"I'm doing well. My PT says only a couple more weeks." Mik smiled.

"That's too bad." Sam winked at her.

"Yeah. Maybe you'll have to have a little setback so you can keep seeing Todd." Jules laughed.

"You two are bad." Mik laughed back. "No I think I need some more time, just me. I still have a studio to get back to. I took on a partner," she looked at KK gratefully, "and she's been doing great with the classes."

"I'm so excited about my Yoga certification." KK said happily. "I still have some learning to do, but I have a couple beginner classes that start next week." She had been very happy to be able to give her notice last week at work.

"Wow good for you." Jules said impressed.

"KK has been learning it since before we met, it's crazy perfect timing." Mik said with pride.

"I've always wanted to teach yoga and now I can." KK smiled.

They talked about different things, everyone engaging in various conversations.

When Mik wasn't occupied, Sam looked at her with concern. "I heard about Xavier." He said quietly.

Mik nodded and looked at the table. "I can't say I'm sorry."

"I don't blame you." Sam said sincerely. "I can't say that either. You ok?"

"Um, well it was, difficult, you know?" Mik narrowed her eyes at him.

"I do." Sam raised his brows. "I can't imagine how it made you feel."

Mik blew out a breath, puffing her cheeks. "Relieved, sad, angry." She had gotten the call and had cried herself to sleep that night. She had woken up with nightmares, she called Camille and they talked all night. "How did you know?"

"A friend from my Army days is a correction officer at the prison. I asked him to keep an eye on Xavier for me. He called after it happened." Sam explained.

"You did?" Mik asked, surprised.

"Yes. If anything happened, I wanted a heads up." He looked at her poignantly.

Greg tapped Sam's shoulder. When Sam leaned to him he said, "you had him watched?"

"Just watched Boss. I trust Roger." Sam replied.

"Ok." Greg leaned back. He trusted Sam so if Sam trusted this guy Roger, he would trust them. He'd talk to Sam later about letting the investigators know about it. He didn't want Sam implicated in anything even though it was an unknown food allergy that killed the bastard.

"Thank you for that." Mik said to Sam when he looked back at her. "I hope that doesn't cause any problems." She glanced at Greg and back to Sam.

"No, it won't. Don't worry about it." Sam flashed his milliwatt smile at her.

Mik smiled back. It really had been a relief when she heard that Xavier had died in prison. His case was open and shut and had moved quickly to sentencing. He was given life for two counts of aggravated assault with a weapon, two counts of attempted murder and one count each of kidnapping and unlawful restraint of a police officer.

At first she was relieved, but then she got angry when she thought that he had gotten off easy after all he did to her over the years. It had taken a few sessions with Dr. L for her to process her feelings.

Now, she felt like she was in a much better place. She still saw Dr. L, but it was only once a week now. She and Sam were both in a good place in their lives. She was pretty sure that Sam and Jules were back together. It wasn't anything obvious, just little things she saw in their eyes. That didn't bother her, she was happy for them. Her talk with Sam had gone well and they had laughed and talked for quite awhile.

She had KK, Camille and Jules for support besides Sam if she needed them. She also had Shelly. It had surprised Mik when Shelly had come to her hospital room a couple weeks ago. Shelly had shared her story about her abusive husband and they had formed a deep bond. She knew Shelly would be there for her if Mik needed her. It was amazing to her to think that she could count on every person in this room. Every person that had gathered to celebrate **her birth.** They were glad she was born and she was glad to have them.

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AN: Thank you so much for reading and reviewing this fanfic. I hope you enjoyed it. I know it was a little out of the cannon, but it was still fun to write. I know everyone loves JAM (including me!) so this wasn't exactly what you wanted, but it all worked out in the end! :)

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